Social Media: Health, Wellbeing and Relationships
The busy-ness of life can sometimes feel overwhelming. It is no different for our young people: demands made by schoolwork, assessments, homework, examinations, the many activities to which their parents ferry them, peer pressure and social media, and just growing up and finding their place in an increasingly complex and fractured world. Of course there is excitement and often fulfilment in all this. But the pressure to conform and go along with what everyone else thinks and says and does is immense. The effect sometimes is to lose control – a feeling that this whirl of activity is not allowing me to be me.
This week our Focus for The Week looks at the intentional person who is prophetic in their actions.
Living intentionally is not about our young people stepping away from the world but is rather about trying to achieve a balance where they know what is important for them and what they want to spend their time and energies doing. Living intentionally can only happen if they are attentive to their experiences, noticing the influences which drive them along and discerning which are good and which not so good, guided by conscience. It means living ethically, with a set of values.
A growing concern for parents and teachers is the issue of peer pressure and the influence of social media.
What is the impact of social media and the continual use of the mobile phone on the health and wellbeing of our young people and their relationships with other young people?
Click on the links below for articles you may find helpful in discussing this important issue with your daughter/son.
The BBC links provide further food for thought and useful advice.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180105-likeminded-a-new-series-on-social-media-and-mental-health
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180104-is-social-media-bad-for-you-the-evidence-and-the-unknowns
