Topic by H. K. Siva
What is the effect of social networks on the younger generation - both positive and negative effects.
Velayuthan
This effect has managed to create a new term called "Phubbing" which describes the habit of snubbing someone in favour of a mobile phone. This behavior is widely seen today whenever there is a gathering but it is unfortunate that it happens in family get-together too.
Social networks rather connects the unknown & largely discards the known!
On the +ve, the cost of connecting & sharing in social networks is almost nothing.
Suseendran
The year is 1995. New York City. I'm walking along Broadway to my office when I notice a man talking loudly to a 'ghost', making hand gestures. I first mistook the man to have gone bonkers! It was then I noticed that he was actually holding onto a small device close to his ears. Also remember a brief period of time in which beepers were very popular. Typically, people would meet and start their conversation about something. Suddenly, one of them would reach into his/her pocket as though bitten by an ant, take a small candy sized device and run towards the closest phone. The others, in addition to being completely ignored, would lose track of their conversation. 'Phubbing' in its full form! Pretty soon, the cell phone would pervade into our lives gradually as a necessary evil.
We've reached a point where the social networks have penetrated the young generation in many ways than one could ever imagine and we have resigned ourselves to accept it.
Some of the Positives...
Collaboration: (e.g.) Helps carrying out homework assignments efficiently. I was amazed at the way my son worked on his 9th grade project assignment with his friends through Skype, sharing screens with the aid of various software.
Communication: Certainly a boon (As long as they don't text while driving).
Closing the distance gap: Who could deny the usefulness of FaceTime, Skype, OoVoo and other video chat tools?
The negatives have already been covered in abundance. The key is for every individual to know where to draw the line and abide by it.
Surya Kolluri
Social networks are here to stay. However, they could have pernicious effects if we don't take care.
-ve effects:
Cyber bullying: whispers, gossip, altered photographs, private notes can be used to make kids feel bad. I have seen cases where parents have switched schools because of cyber bullying.
Negative influence: It is impossible to detect who is interacting with kids. It might well include predators. For all protections, one predator slipping through is enough to have serious damage to families and communities. This is a real threat.
Peer pressure: In the absence of electronic social networks, parents could hope to control the activities and exposure through the friends the kids had. The peer pressure now can be far and wide. Nothing influences a kid's action more than peer pressure. Drinking, drugs, R-rated materials - the list is endless (for example the Boston marathon miscreants and the material they had access to).
Information ahead of time: Kids won't be able to handle all information. If they have access to youtube, and their social network discusses it, there is no stopping them.
+ve
- Exposure: Growing up in CBE in the 70s, we would wait for visitors from Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and abroad to tell us tales of all the great developments around the world. Today, the world is at our kids fingertips
- Best practices: Tips and best practices spread as fast as negative information
- Cautions and warnings: In as much as peer pressure can lead to bad behavior - early warning can lead to safe or good choices (for example which teacher's class to avoid in electives!)
Reality Check:
- These social networks are here to stay. There is not turning back the tide of history. So the question is how best to deal with the cards that we have been dealt.
- These technologies and development are growing exponentially. We ourselves as we get older cannot hope to keep up. Think of the generation older to us and the difficulties they have had. We will face the same. So - the best we can do is to 'transmit values' and hope the kids can deal with technologies in the best way possible.
Sumathi
As a parent I Will feel happy when my daughter downloads the soft copy of her text books to her IPAD, since it is comfortable for her read the books from IPAD and she need not carry the books where ever she goes and It also helps her to capture the radiology images of different cases displayed in their class rooms. She can surf the net and get any doubts clarified.
But at the same time it helps her to connect to the facebook and WhatsAPP easily and My heart will start beating fast when she gets more involved in it and waste her time and when she keeps uploading Photos.
Mobile Phones are helpful for our kids to reach us fast when they feel like, but when they start chatting and sending messages for hours we become restless..
Bharani
In today's world, social networks have become an integral part of our children's lives. Kids do derive a ton of benefits - massive info in seconds, knowledge-sharing, getting help on any issues rapidly, etc.
But at the same time, parents need to exercise control judiciously, and educate the kids on the negative aspects.
Cyber-bullying has hit hard on many kids' lives.
Predators take many forms. In one study, a detective, pretending to be a teen, showed a group of parents how easy it was for him to get confidential info from a teen girl. He just asked her benign questions about the sports she played, her school mascot, practice hours, what time she gets home etc, and derived that she walks home alone, and she is at home by herself for a few hours everyday. He then locates the identity of the girl in her school, goes to meet her with the group of parents, and explains how she should have fielded those questions.
Prabhakar
Here is my quick take on this topic of youngsters and social media:
Positives
Hide message history
A avenue for kids to share and express feelings
Ability to have a larger friends circle and reach out to them on a reasonably regular basis
Non intrusive communication - you can turn it off if required
Given the busy lifestyles of parents, social media may be the only form of social interaction for several kids
Ability to connect on the fly with a mobile device from anywhere
Effective medium of collaboration of homework/projects
Negatives
Spending too much time leads to addictive behaviour
Cyber Bullying
Posts that can be used against you or come to haunt you (by friends, school, college , employer & government)
Pictures or posts can be used inappropriately
Reveals too much personal info about yourself to the public
To conclude I am of the opinion that social media is a great tool when used in moderation
What is the effect of social networks on the younger generation - both positive and negative effects.
Velayuthan
This effect has managed to create a new term called "Phubbing" which describes the habit of snubbing someone in favour of a mobile phone. This behavior is widely seen today whenever there is a gathering but it is unfortunate that it happens in family get-together too.
Social networks rather connects the unknown & largely discards the known!
On the +ve, the cost of connecting & sharing in social networks is almost nothing.
Suseendran
The year is 1995. New York City. I'm walking along Broadway to my office when I notice a man talking loudly to a 'ghost', making hand gestures. I first mistook the man to have gone bonkers! It was then I noticed that he was actually holding onto a small device close to his ears. Also remember a brief period of time in which beepers were very popular. Typically, people would meet and start their conversation about something. Suddenly, one of them would reach into his/her pocket as though bitten by an ant, take a small candy sized device and run towards the closest phone. The others, in addition to being completely ignored, would lose track of their conversation. 'Phubbing' in its full form! Pretty soon, the cell phone would pervade into our lives gradually as a necessary evil.
We've reached a point where the social networks have penetrated the young generation in many ways than one could ever imagine and we have resigned ourselves to accept it.
Some of the Positives...
Collaboration: (e.g.) Helps carrying out homework assignments efficiently. I was amazed at the way my son worked on his 9th grade project assignment with his friends through Skype, sharing screens with the aid of various software.
Communication: Certainly a boon (As long as they don't text while driving).
Closing the distance gap: Who could deny the usefulness of FaceTime, Skype, OoVoo and other video chat tools?
The negatives have already been covered in abundance. The key is for every individual to know where to draw the line and abide by it.
Surya Kolluri
Social networks are here to stay. However, they could have pernicious effects if we don't take care.
-ve effects:
Cyber bullying: whispers, gossip, altered photographs, private notes can be used to make kids feel bad. I have seen cases where parents have switched schools because of cyber bullying.
Negative influence: It is impossible to detect who is interacting with kids. It might well include predators. For all protections, one predator slipping through is enough to have serious damage to families and communities. This is a real threat.
Peer pressure: In the absence of electronic social networks, parents could hope to control the activities and exposure through the friends the kids had. The peer pressure now can be far and wide. Nothing influences a kid's action more than peer pressure. Drinking, drugs, R-rated materials - the list is endless (for example the Boston marathon miscreants and the material they had access to).
Information ahead of time: Kids won't be able to handle all information. If they have access to youtube, and their social network discusses it, there is no stopping them.
+ve
- Exposure: Growing up in CBE in the 70s, we would wait for visitors from Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and abroad to tell us tales of all the great developments around the world. Today, the world is at our kids fingertips
- Best practices: Tips and best practices spread as fast as negative information
- Cautions and warnings: In as much as peer pressure can lead to bad behavior - early warning can lead to safe or good choices (for example which teacher's class to avoid in electives!)
Reality Check:
- These social networks are here to stay. There is not turning back the tide of history. So the question is how best to deal with the cards that we have been dealt.
- These technologies and development are growing exponentially. We ourselves as we get older cannot hope to keep up. Think of the generation older to us and the difficulties they have had. We will face the same. So - the best we can do is to 'transmit values' and hope the kids can deal with technologies in the best way possible.
Sumathi
As a parent I Will feel happy when my daughter downloads the soft copy of her text books to her IPAD, since it is comfortable for her read the books from IPAD and she need not carry the books where ever she goes and It also helps her to capture the radiology images of different cases displayed in their class rooms. She can surf the net and get any doubts clarified.
But at the same time it helps her to connect to the facebook and WhatsAPP easily and My heart will start beating fast when she gets more involved in it and waste her time and when she keeps uploading Photos.
Mobile Phones are helpful for our kids to reach us fast when they feel like, but when they start chatting and sending messages for hours we become restless..
Bharani
In today's world, social networks have become an integral part of our children's lives. Kids do derive a ton of benefits - massive info in seconds, knowledge-sharing, getting help on any issues rapidly, etc.
But at the same time, parents need to exercise control judiciously, and educate the kids on the negative aspects.
Cyber-bullying has hit hard on many kids' lives.
Predators take many forms. In one study, a detective, pretending to be a teen, showed a group of parents how easy it was for him to get confidential info from a teen girl. He just asked her benign questions about the sports she played, her school mascot, practice hours, what time she gets home etc, and derived that she walks home alone, and she is at home by herself for a few hours everyday. He then locates the identity of the girl in her school, goes to meet her with the group of parents, and explains how she should have fielded those questions.
Prabhakar
Here is my quick take on this topic of youngsters and social media:
Positives
Hide message history
A avenue for kids to share and express feelings
Ability to have a larger friends circle and reach out to them on a reasonably regular basis
Non intrusive communication - you can turn it off if required
Given the busy lifestyles of parents, social media may be the only form of social interaction for several kids
Ability to connect on the fly with a mobile device from anywhere
Effective medium of collaboration of homework/projects
Negatives
Spending too much time leads to addictive behaviour
Cyber Bullying
Posts that can be used against you or come to haunt you (by friends, school, college , employer & government)
Pictures or posts can be used inappropriately
Reveals too much personal info about yourself to the public
To conclude I am of the opinion that social media is a great tool when used in moderation
K. Kanchana
My logic so far is very ""simple"" &""easy go"" to my kid never applying parental ego onto my kid,..!!
I get involved on all his day to day actions & needs, and my son narrates emotionally all his day to day matters and self spare time listening to him silently,..self enjoy studying & learning while he uses his gadgets, in a way applying an innocent act of knowing & learning his actions,..in fact my son teaches me quickly browsing thro on all latest software's & phone devices and he does comparison_ brand, technical & costing features, and helps me on other home appliances,any other products etc.. ,..that's one way could gain lead on his effective usage of gadgets,..//
And today its a microsoft world, naturally gadgets connects kids to all friends at every level, strengthening relatives network, students/parents/teachers daily online reporting/exchange, researching on everyday educational supportive materials, expanding knowledge base, keeping updated on all techno changes, modernisation, innovations, global approach+news+updates, connectivity with inter_school/institutional knowledge sharing at national & global level, and hence where & how we could put a stopover !! but yes the kids should be groomed closely guiding them what to learn+exchange// slowly the children gets auto tuned and understand the +ve/_ve aspects //
Gadgets connects & rules the world !! How long we parents could control & be a watchdog !!
Venkat Raghavan
The positives have been mentioned adequately I guess and the negatives such as cyber bullying, the predators and other dangers lurking have been listed. Even without the negatives such as this, whether this social networking is great for the kids is something I wonder. I think it has the potential to alter the psychology.
I think the children are clinging too much to this virtual world. My experience is based on both my children and friends. They play less. They have less face to face talk. What does it do to their confidence I don’t know. If someone removed from their ‘friends list’ (since I never had a facebook account I do not know how it works), they are inconsolable. If they didn’t get a response back for their posting, they are gloomy.
I think they are veering away from reality. I think living in this virtual world continuously would impair judgment when it comes to real life. For many of us, our children’s primary and secondary schooling years were before the facebook and WhatsApp proliferation. So, in their formative years, this influence was less. But for the younger ones, it is a bit more serious. I may sound excessively ominous, but that is how I feel.