How early, unsupervised social media exposure harms children

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, on November 7, announced that children under the age of 16 will be banned from using social media as part of efforts to protect the mental health of the young. Here are some well-documented effects that early and unsupervised exposure to social media can have on children.
Neuro-developmental disorders: Excessive screen-time is one of the risk factors for neuro-development disorders such as dyslexia or autism, with research showing that it leads to hyperactivity, shorter attention spans and lower neuro development.
Sleep deprivation: The blue light emitted from phone screens has been proven to hamper with the body’s natural sleep cycle. In children, sleep is crucial for neuro development and physical wellbeing. Too much screen-time can cause poor quality or less sleep, which will impact not just children’s performance in academics but also their long-term physical health and immunity.
Cyber bullying: There are different types of cyber bullying, the most common one being trolling—where harsh, false or violent things are said to a child. This can cause extreme fear, anxiety, stress and even self-harm tendencies. There are other forms of cyber bullying too, which involve blackmailing children using hostile information about them or pressuring them into doing things they do not wish to do.
Harmful content: The internet is full of information, much of which is not suited for a young child’s mind. This includes explicit content, incorrect advice or information and a number of dangerous social media trends. Several child and teen suicides or accidents have been recorded globally due to following social media trends, such as the ice bucket challenge, planking, blue whale, choking games or inhaling medicines for fun. What seems like entertainment online can easily turn into disaster offline.
Child predators: Child porn continues to remain an alarming reality, and child porn creators are constantly scouring the web for potential targets. A lot of whom they choose to target depends on their social media usage and a profile that is built around their digital activity. Many of those working to stop child trafficking and use of children for porn highly recommend that children and teens not be allowed to share personal information online and even more so without supervision.
Low self-esteem: Children and teens are vulnerable to social pressure, both online and offline. Digital abuse or peer pressure has shown to result in poor self-confidence, self-worth, feelings of loneliness and even depression. Yet, social media is highly addictive, so despite feelings which are harmful and painful, children find it next to impossible to quit. This makes the situation worse and can result in permanent behavioural disorders.
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