Social networks are a real problem in the modern world. Teenagers and adults spend an incomprehensible amount of time in virtual space, but if an adult uses social networks for a specific purpose and can control himself in them, then a teenager does not.
So how to "pull" a teenager from social networks?
Social networks: why they are interesting to teens
To begin with, we will understand what social networks are. Social networks are sites and applications that allow real-time correspondence, sharing photos, videos, thoughts.
Why are they interesting to teens? In fact, everything is quite simple. There are several main reasons that explain the unhealthy addiction of children and adolescents to social networks.
The first and main is socialization. The modern world has long been living in harmony with the Internet space. It is on the Internet that the trends and fashion trends of mankind are dictated, it is there that the latest news for every taste appears, and that is where unlimited communication with an unlimited list of people is available.
Social networks allow teens to share their thoughts, photos, thereby declaring their uniqueness. Also, using social networks, you can easily find virtual friends or develop relationships with existing friends.
That is, social networks allow you to be “in the subject” of modernity, to maintain a conversation, to be “your” in the company of peers. This is socialization. By the way, a teenager’s long pastime on social networks is often associated with parents trying to find a virtual friend because of problems in real life. But any modern teenager spends a long time on social networks, but not everyone has problems, which means that this is not the main reason.
The second reason is often voiced by adults and, to put it briefly, teens are sitting on social networks "with nothing to do." Of course, this is not entirely true, but there is some truth here. Given that young people do not need to take care of the financial support of the family, solving household issues, planning their future and the future of their children, raising children and building a family, then of course they have much more free time that they have on social networks.
But why is this not quite the right point of view? The fact is that social networks are not a very chaotic set of information and bad people on every corner. If a child develops a craving for knowledge and is taught to treat people selectively, then as a teenager, he will use the Internet as a communication with interesting people who will not harm him in order to obtain useful information.
The social network "Vkontakte", for example, allows you to see information about a person and evaluate his tastes and preferences. Also, on the platform of the social network hosted a mass of popular science magazines and other useful resources. If desired, the teenager will be able to competently filter the harmful effects of the Internet.
You can often see how modern teens run after popularity, open their online stores, share their creativity, seek new friends, and develop their social connections.
How to recognize addiction to social networks?
We found out above that social networks in the modern world are an integral part of the life of any teenager. Contrary to the fears of the adult generation, a smart and selective teenager will wrap up the use of the Internet to their advantage. But what if the child is abnormally attached to the virtual world and how to recognize addiction to social networks?
Teenagers of certain categories are prone to this dependence:
• Teenagers unsure of themselves
• Teens who have no hobbies
• Teenagers prone to envy
It should also be taken into account that such a dependence can take many years to form and not attract proper attention. It all starts with registering an account on a social network. Next, the teenager comes to check the news of his account once a month, plows the news feed, finds interesting groups for himself. Social network traffic is increasing. So, every second teenager updates a page on a social network once an hour or more. As much as we would not like to admit this, but still - 75% of adolescents have this dependence.
Recognizing it is not easy, but still possible. Like any addiction, it has its own distinctive features:
• An irresistible desire, similar to "breaking", to refresh the page on social networks (that is, see the notification about likes, read the latest news, view incoming messages);
• Uncontrolled pastime in a social network;
• Meals, lessons and other things are done directly in front of a computer monitor or phone screen;
• The necessary amount of attention is not paid to the family, studies, hobbies.
If you notice a teenager with the above symptoms, then you need to at least have a conversation with the child, asking what specifically attracts him to social networks. Perhaps the teenager does useful or exciting things through the Internet.
How to get a teenager out of social networks
"Pulling" a teenager from social networks is not so simple. Still, the transitional age plays a huge role. The matter is complicated when you have a desire to get rid of social networks, but not your child. Conflicts, protests, rebellion, and other manifestations of disagreement with the parental point of view cannot be avoided, so you should think carefully before deciding to stand up against the fashion trend.
But some methods will help at least distract the child from social networks:
• To-do list
Invite your beloved child to make a to-do list for the day, week, month. This list should not contain exclusively unpleasant things for the teenager (cleaning, housework, homework). Let there be pleasant items on this list: take a walk with the dog, collect the picture from the mosaic with the whole family, read a book for 2 hours, visit grandmother every three days, and so on. Unnoticed by a teenager, he will be distracted from social networks.
• Selectivity in information
Inoculate the child with selectivity in information, teach him to have a point of view on various issues of life, develop his abilities in one or another activity. Of course, this is best done in childhood, but still. A teenager in whom selectivity is brought up will find on social networks only information that is interesting to himself, in accordance with his views and hobbies. So his news feed will not be infinitely long, and reading it will be useful.
• Live chat
Allow walks, trips, overnight stays, baby trips with your friends. Such sorties will help to feel the charm of live communication with friends and distract from social networks.
Social networks, of course, is of great importance in the life of modern adolescents. But the secret lies only in the fact that parents who diversify the life of their child and listen to his wishes will never encounter this problem.
