Is Social Media Ruining Our Teenagers?

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Social media has done so much good for us especially in Nigeria; due to social media we have information concerning politics and many other aspects which are of importance to us. It also has its negative aspects.

I once went for a one year old baby’s party and to my greatest surprise a 13 year old girl was using a Samsung galaxy S4, me being an inquisitive person or as Nigerians would say an aproko, I asked if the phone belonged to her mom or dad, and she said NO, it was hers, she had an active data subscription, friends on blackberry messenger and was already on face book. What would a 13 year old stand to gain on being on social media?

Social media has robbed many from being the children that they are, to already acting as adults. I remember opening a face book account for my nephew who was 16 years of age then, when his dad found out, he demanded the account be closed immediately, until he gets to 18.

The high rate of failure in external examinations such as WAEC and NECO has being attributed to high use of social media among the youths, the time supposed to be used to study is spent pinging, chatting, and browsing sites which are not relevant.

There was a case of a girl who fell into the hands of wrong men, she was defrauded, raped and killed; with the help of several blogs and news channels, the men were caught and brought to law. There are two sides to this story though, she was a victim of social media, because she had not physically met this people yet she trusted them.

Many people unconsciously get close to strangers with the intention of having a casual conversation. As time goes on they may get so intimate with the strangers forgetting that the heart of men is desperately wicked, they begin to trust them and reveal their deepest secrets.

Parents have different ways on bringing up their kids, I am not a parent so who am I to judge, but I believe parents should put an eye on their kids especially the teenagers, and restrict access on some social media platforms.

There is a great danger in getting close with strange people on social media sites.

Most importantly, young people should take responsibility on using the social media in a positive light. They should try and shun every negative tendency that the platform could provide so as not to become victims of societal disintegration.

 

 

 

 

 

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