It should be no surprise that the age of users on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace is getting younger. Posting pictures, changing statuses and playing games through special applications are no longer just for teenagers or adults. Popular opinion by some researchers suggests that these kids are going to suffer from communication issues, as well as possibly suffering from Internet addiction. Others disagree and say there is no solid research to back up such accusations. There is a problem that is occurring with the use of such sites — or the Internet in general — at younger ages. The problem is not necessarily just about communication, but also about the loss of something very valuable. The issue is the Internet is taking away from the childhood you are supposed to get when you are that age and is aiding in the existing problem of children behaving too mature for their mental, emotional and physical capacity.
According to CNN, researchers say a growing number of children are flouting age requirements on sites such as Facebook and MySpace or using social networking sites designed just for them. In two surveys reported this year by Pew Internet Research of 700 and 935 teens, respectively, 38 percent of respondents ages 12 to 14 said they had an online profile of some sort. But it is not just the tweens being targeted by Internet fads. There are social networking sites designed to attract the attention of users as young as 5-years-old. Sites such as Disney’s Club Penguin — mainly a game site but with limited social functions — WebKinz and Whyville feature more restricted and supervised networking. Children as young as 5 have accounts at KidSwirl, a kids’ social networking site patterned loosely on Facebook.
The idea of what it means to have a childhood has changed through the generations. We grow up hearing stories of our parents’ generation being outside and running around with their friends until dinner. They talk about participating in activities that made them use their imagination or get out of the house in some kind of physical activity. Our generation had a little more technology introduced to it, but games of make believe and baseball were still played with neighborhood friends, and after school play dates were still set up by parents. Today there is almost no need for such things. Kids can participate in online chats, and these cyber worlds created by Webkinz and Club Penguin allow children to interact via the Internet. Parents no longer have to drive their kids to their friends’ houses because they can have a virtual play date. This virtual reality also eliminates the need for imagination. Why make up your own games with stuffed animals and dolls when sites like the one for Webkinz give you Internet games to play? Many toys now come with a special code to register on a particular Web site and games with the character you create. Hell, you can’t even eat a box of cereal these days with out having the option to join a special cyber world.
These options only encourage kids to sit home and spend hours playing on their computers instead of going out into the real world to have face-to-face interaction with family and friends. The encouragement not only comes from commercials and the spread of popular trends, but also the parents who allow them to sit in front of the computer like a mindless zombie. When children as young as 5 are social networking, a lot has to be said about the parents because the computer, like the television, is a great babysitter for a kid. It keeps kids out of their parents’ hair, so they are free to concentrate on things they want to do. Instead of the old-fashioned way of yelling at your kids to get fresh air, parents can have their kids stay safe in their own home, where an eye can be kept on them while not actually having to deal with their children.
Besides losing the make believe and physical activity parts of childhood, kids are also exposed to a lot more on the Internet at a younger age. Advertisements for dating, celebrity looks, exercise and what society deems as “cool and acceptable” are seen on social networking sites. This can give them a predisposition about self worth and the things that one should value. By being friends with older family members or just older people in general, there is also exposure to more mature activities. Pictures of people drinking, partying and acting out in what can be deemed as promiscuous behavior will be seen by these kids, especially on a site like MySpace, where it is easier and more acceptable to be friends with people they may not know personally. That being said, they may be more impressionable with the older sister or cousin they are friends with on Facebook or MySpace. They will see these activities going on and be more susceptible to thinking they are OK at a younger age. Boys posing shirtless, trying to be macho and girls taking pictures of themselves in bikinis looking in bathroom mirrors are disturbing enough to see, but it takes it to a whole new level when 11 and 12 year olds are starting to behave this way. It all contributes to the mindset that they are more mature than they actually are.
People should start looking at this problem of young people using social networking sites. They will always have to be able to communicate in the real world, but these sites will contribute to the way they are presenting themselves in that reality. It will also affect the way they behave, and it will only get worse as the generations progress and parents become less involved in their children’s lives.
Internet robbing kids of childhood
Editorial
Published: Monday, November 2, 2009
Updated: Monday, November 2, 2009
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