Sasha, Katie, and Ruby have been friends since elementary school. They go to middle school together and spend much of their free time in each other’s company.
Just like other teenagers, sending messages to each other on social media comes naturally to them. But will this strengthen or damage their friendship?
A new study brings welcome news to children and parents alike. Many of them are concerned about the amount of screen time young people spend.
“What they found was that there was a small but significant association between time spent online and symptoms of depression, but now that the findings are out, we can’t help but understand the nuances of social media.” “I don’t really see it,” she said.
“We used this research to find out who young people are engaging with and how much time they spend online.”
And this time, we have some good news regarding screen time.
It was found that people who spent time talking online with a close group of friends they already knew offline experienced an increase in their happiness.
Dr Anthony said this was a “very clear message” that spending time talking to people online that teenagers didn’t know was associated with “significantly lower levels of happiness”. , said the message is even stronger for teenage girls who only message people online.
Teenagers in Wales have been exercising less and spending more time in front of screens during the pandemic, with almost a quarter experiencing adverse mental health symptoms, a separate study found. In light of this, this study may come as welcome news.
But how does Dr. Anthony’s work translate into the experiences of the three friends?
The trio, now all 14 or 15 years old, started using mobile phones in their last year of primary school, but initially used WhatsApp to communicate with close friends.
In secondary school, this trend became even more widespread as more people formed messaging groups.
Sasha said, “As for WhatsApp, I honestly think I used it more.” [back then] Because everyone just got a phone and group chats were always blowing up. ”
The girls said they felt the app was mostly positive now that they were in middle school.
As they grew, different apps started taking over.
Ruby says, “TikTok was the thing that got people hooked on their phones, but Snapchat and Instagram were the way people talked to each other.
“There’s more drama and more happening on Snapchat and Instagram. People get into arguments and it impacts our lives more.”
They agreed that Snapchat is their primary means of communication for large groups, but they revert to WhatsApp for more intimate groups of friends.
“It’s always there.”
Ruby said that while texting close friends from home at night was a mostly positive experience, being part of other group chats caused her to “feel negative emotions, even if nothing terrible happened.” He said that there were times when he felt that way.
Do they ultimately believe that technology has improved their friendships and happiness?
Katie said: ‘I think it is, because when you’re feeling really sad or bored or anything, it’s always there.
“If you’re feeling really happy about something, you can tell them right now. It’ll make you feel even better and you’ll have more fun about it.”
Sasha described it as a “reassurance” to be able to contact her at any time, even to resolve an argument.
“You can text and say, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that,’ but otherwise you just have to sit there and think,” she said.
Evie Kwan, 17, is a member of the Welsh Youth Parliament and is from Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, with an interest in mental health.
She said the ability to reach out to people and “ask how they’re doing and ask if they need a chat or something in-person” is valuable.
“But when it comes to loneliness, always knowing what everyone is doing, constantly texting you, it’s like a whole other world.”
She added: “Not participating in these chats on social media apps can make you feel isolated and alone.”
For Dr. Linda Papadopoulos, a psychologist and ambassador for the online safety group Internet Matters, the most important thing parents can do is be aware of what their children are doing.
“Pay attention to how kids are interacting online, and how that makes them feel the same way you do when you do something. Start a new club, start a new and starting school,” she said.
“Has your child gone from being open and happy to being very, very withdrawn? Has your child gone from being very quiet to being very, very excited when you remove technology?”
She cites the health message of five fruits and vegetables a day as an analogy.
“It’s great to connect with friends online, but if that’s all you do, that’s a problem.
“That’s one vegetable. The other vegetable is, did you have a playdate? Did you go out? Did you move? Did you interact? Was it just text or did you talk?”
Dr. Anthony said he was surprised to find that some teens’ self-control was “switched on,” such as turning off notifications while doing homework.
They seem to have figured this out for themselves when it comes to talking online.
“As long as you can control your limits, that’s a positive thing,” Katie said.
Ruby added: “There will be people who are addicted to social media, and in that case it will be a negative, but for people who can use social media in moderation, it will always be a positive.”