17% School Students Start Using Social Media by age Nine: Reveals Survey

40 percent of students reported their parents did not monitor their social media use.

17 percent of middle school students started using social media at age of nine or younger, while 40% accepted friend requests from unknown people.

According to a survey of 593 middle school 40 percent of students reported their parents did not monitor their social media use. Thus, it is important for students to learn how to use social media for learning, collaborating with others, and having discussions, which may enhance their creativity, team spirit and boost many other related skills as well.

The survey findings were revealed during a special Workshop KAMP on "Use of Social Media for Learning'' in association with NIScPR-SVASTIK with more than 1000 students of 5th to 12th standard from different schools across India as participants.

In this workshop, Dr Paramananda Barman (Scientist, CSIR-NIScPR) pointed out that there has been an increase in the usage of social media amongst teens and since they do not have the cognitive and emotional capacity to distinguish between reliable and unreliable information, it becomes quite essential to guide them upon the appropriate use of social media.

On the same hand, they must be aware of the negative impacts social media can cause like lack of privacy, distraction, unethical hacking, cyber bullying, stalking, and even showcasing inappropriate content. This may negatively impact their psyche in terms of self esteem, self confidence, etc. leading them to be isolated, depressed and even feeling negative about themselves.

So, it is important to guide children on the healthy way of using social media, by making them understand the importance of careful usage of social media platforms, having strong passwords, avoiding the downloads of third party applications, reporting and blocking if someone is posting offensive content and most importantly verifying the information before accepting and sharing with others.

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