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 darnkitten on Wednesday March 14 2018, @02:24AM (1 child)
I expect parents polled in the fifties would have said something similar about comics, parents in the eighties about D&D, Parents in the 1500s about backgammon, etc.
-
(yes, backgammon--can't remember which book I read it in, but apparently, Dutch parents and religious leaders blamed that particular scourge for everything from teen pregnancy to youth violence...)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Rivenaleem on Thursday March 22 2018, @03:39PM
Except all those parents would have been wrong. These parents understand the perils of drink, drugs and smoking, and how to teach their kids how to avoid it. The real concern here is the known danger of social media (privacy etc.) vs. how to arm your kid against these dangers. They are right to be worried, because it's harder to explain to your child why it can be dangerous sharing information on facebook than it is to explain smoking or alcohol.