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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 FatPhil on Wednesday March 14 2018, @02:52AM (1 child)
However, I still maintain that a healthy dose of cynicism is a useful thing to impart. But yes, it will be used against you. This is not new, the endless loop of "but why?" is a related precursor. Maybe that's where the questioning gets killed - before the questions have evolved into their adult form?
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by darnkitten on Wednesday March 14 2018, @04:24AM
And I agree completely. As a librarian, I am constantly trying to impart the tiniest bit of information literacy to my patrons (or to my Board, for that matter >:P ), and it would be better if we could teach them when their opinions haven't hardened into mental stone. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how one would teach information literacy on Sesame Street.
Certainly, I don't get to them until after the damage has been done, and I see very few parents or teachers who are capable of teaching children reasonable skepticism.
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Also, bad information well presented is very seductive, especially to someone who has a need for some sort of exclusive knowledge no one else has, which describes both conspiracy theorists and preteens/teens, as my own teenage self could attest.