SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
The Australian Broadcast Corporation reports:
Australian parents are more worried about their children using social media and technology than drugs, alcohol or smoking, according to new research.
The youth mental health support service ReachOut surveyed parents of 12 to 18-year-olds about their concerns and found that 45 per cent were worried about their children's use of social media.
Technology closely followed at 42 per cent.
In comparison, 25 per cent were worried about their children using drugs, alcohol or smoking. [...] ReachOut surveyed 890 parents in December 2017, a month before the suicide of 14-year-old Amy "Dolly" Everett put cyberbullying on the national agenda.
Mr Nicholas said parents were concerned about the anonymity of social media. "They're really concerned about the nature of bullying that may happen on social media sites and how easy it is given that this is a product that young people are likely to use every day," he said. "That the harm and particularly the psychological harm can be really significant."
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday March 14 2018, @02:19AM (1 child)
Just from curiosity: do you think of your experience as representative for the generation at the time?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Touché) by darnkitten on Wednesday March 14 2018, @02:46AM
Not necessarily (I remember myself as more being shy than most) but teens spending hours talking on the phone to the next-door neighbour has been a cliche since at least the 1940s, and talking while facing away from each other on the porch swing for even longer. I remember even the more popular kids saying they "talked for hours" on the phone, both to friends and to boyfriends/girlfriends.
I think many teens find communication (or conversation, which to them is the same thing) easier when mediated in some fashion. Face-to-face can get so intense.