Today's Kids have "Facebook Depression"

[random3434]

From sexting to "Facebook depression," the online world brings up a host of issues for children and teens, according to a report released today (March 28) by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The report recommends that pediatricians talk to their patients, and their patients' parents, about cybersafety, including privacy, anonymity and cyberbullying.

"We don't want to demonize the online world or say that social media is bad," said report author Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe of the AAP's council on communications and media. "What we'd like is for people to slow down a bit and get to know what is happening in kids' lives."

A big chunk of kids' social development now takes place in the online world, according to the report. A study released in February 2010 found that 70 percent of wired American teens and young adults use social networking sites. A 2009 poll conducted by Common Sense Media found that more than half of teens use a social networking site more than once a day.

Today's Kids Face 'Facebook Depression' - Yahoo! News

 

[Ravi]

Prolly all that radiation in their milk.

 

[FuelRod]

Don't even say it. My kids actually mentioned being worried about radiation last night. I set them straight however

 

[R.D.]

"We don't want to demonize the online world or say that social media is bad,"

Ooops, that presactly what I did

 

[Skull Pilot]

The constant worry over on line "social" status is warping children and adults alike.

The sooner you realize that the minutiae of your daily life is meaningless the better off you will all be.

I see Facebook addicts as sad lonely people to begin with, is it any wonder people with such a need for external validation even if it's from an anonymous post on a computer are prone to depression?

 

[editec]

Yes the internet is changing the social dynamic.

Automobiles did, too.

Things change.

 

[Mr.Fitnah]

 

[lifesgood88]

I am not a teen, but I do relate to the "Facebook Depression" somewhat. I have noticed that when I have spent too much time on the website, I start to feel down simply because it seems like everyone's having a better time than I am. That, of course, isn't true. People generally don't post what is negative about their life(including me), and so they sometimes give the false impression that everything is going great. I also relate to being offended when someone declines my friend request--I think this is very understandable because you start to wonder about yourself...am I not cool enough, nice enough, smart enough, pretty enough, etc? The way I have moved past this is to realize that anyone that I actually talk to a lot is already on my Facebook, or, if they aren't yet, they won't decline the request. Most requests that are declined are from people you never really interact with or interacted with anyway. Also, I find that if I don't look at other people's pictures, then I don't feel bad about what is going on in my own life. Lesson learned? Mind your own business and everything will be fine.

 

[waltky]

Good way to get sued...

Dad hits accused cyberbullies with lawsuit
June 17, 2011, Daughter was threatened and defamed online, lawsuit alleges

Who sues kids for cyberbullying? A Houston lawyer does when his daughter becomes the target of a nasty video posted on Facebook, according to a lawsuit filed this week in Harris County. Last month, three Kingwood students who attend Riverwood Middle School filmed themselves offering unkind words about a classmate, then uploaded the video to the social networking site, the civil complaint says.

The targeted child's father, Jason Medley, provided the video to school officials, then sent cease-and-desist demands to the three girls and their parents. The letters said he would sue if the youngsters didn't stop all communication with his daughter and if their families did not donate at least $5,000 each to the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, an Oregon nonprofit.

Receiving no response by his early June deadline, one of Medley's colleagues filed a defamation of character lawsuit on Tuesday against the three girls, accusing them of making defamatory and false statements that "impute sexual impropriety and misconduct" on his daughter. The complaint also alleged that the video includes threats to physically harm the girl and seeks a permanent injunction to prevent the three from further contacting her.

Medley declined to be interviewed for this report. The Chronicle is not naming any of the children involved. Riverwood officials confirmed the incident, Humble ISD spokeswoman Karen Collier said in an email.

'A very novel approach'

 

[strollingbones]

studies show the more time you spend on the net the more you are apt to be depressed......i love to listen to people on the net....how important they are in real life...how successful they are in real life and yet they spend the majority of their time on the net....o o and what i really love are the ones who claim to have such great work ethics but are posting from work.....lol...right......

Obsessive Internet Use Linked with Depression in Teens - TIME

 

[editec]

I happened to be deeply depressed before the internet was available to me.

To some extent the internet has given me the ability to have human contact (of a sort) that I might otherwise not have had.

That said, I definitely do think that (per usual) I have gone overboard and now the enormous amount of time I spend in front of a computer is probably not good for me mentally or physically.

 

[masquerade]

I am not a teen, but I do relate to the "Facebook Depression" somewhat. I have noticed that when I have spent too much time on the website, I start to feel down simply because it seems like everyone's having a better time than I am. That, of course, isn't true. People generally don't post what is negative about their life(including me), and so they sometimes give the false impression that everything is going great. I also relate to being offended when someone declines my friend request--I think this is very understandable because you start to wonder about yourself...am I not cool enough, nice enough, smart enough, pretty enough, etc? The way I have moved past this is to realize that anyone that I actually talk to a lot is already on my Facebook, or, if they aren't yet, they won't decline the request. Most requests that are declined are from people you never really interact with or interacted with anyway. Also, I find that if I don't look at other people's pictures, then I don't feel bad about what is going on in my own life. Lesson learned? Mind your own business and everything will be fine.

Don't take anything personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

Do not look to others to make you happy and your Life better. All of your happiness comes from within. Take a look inside.

 

[High_Gravity]

I am not a teen, but I do relate to the "Facebook Depression" somewhat. I have noticed that when I have spent too much time on the website, I start to feel down simply because it seems like everyone's having a better time than I am. That, of course, isn't true. People generally don't post what is negative about their life(including me), and so they sometimes give the false impression that everything is going great. I also relate to being offended when someone declines my friend request--I think this is very understandable because you start to wonder about yourself...am I not cool enough, nice enough, smart enough, pretty enough, etc? The way I have moved past this is to realize that anyone that I actually talk to a lot is already on my Facebook, or, if they aren't yet, they won't decline the request. Most requests that are declined are from people you never really interact with or interacted with anyway. Also, I find that if I don't look at other people's pictures, then I don't feel bad about what is going on in my own life. Lesson learned? Mind your own business and everything will be fine.

Thats not true trust me, people only put on Facebook what they want people to see. Facebook is something you can use to keep on contact with friends and family you haven't seen in a long time, if it gets to the point where it causing you to be depressed or stressed you need to delete your account.

 

[FuelRod]

I'm suffering myspace withdrawls.

 

[Zoom-boing]

My 14 yr old got grounded from hanging with her friends irl . . .again . . . and was also grounded off of facebook. So smarty pants decided to start 'following people' on Tumblr. It's just a blog site where people blog about their life and other people follow them. Srsly? Some of the shit these people (mostly kids under 21) were posting? No way Jose. Solution? A few weeks back I got Firefox's add-on FoxFilter. For $10/yr you can block just about anything you want off of each account you've put the add-on onto. Tumblr is now blocked. Personally I wish Facebook was only allowed for the 18-and-over crowd.

While I love the internet and all it is definitely a time-sucker.

 

[Zoom-boing]

Ok, I'm logging off of here now and am going to go do something IRL!!

 

[High_Gravity]

My 14 yr old got grounded from hanging with her friends irl . . .again . . . and was also grounded off of facebook. So smarty pants decided to start 'following people' on Tumblr. It's just a blog site where people blog about their life and other people follow them. Srsly? Some of the shit these people (mostly kids under 21) were posting? No way Jose. Solution? A few weeks back I got Firefox's add-on FoxFilter. For $10/yr you can block just about anything you want off of each account you've put the add-on onto. Tumblr is now blocked. Personally I wish Facebook was only allowed for the 18-and-over crowd.

While I love the internet and all it is definitely a time-sucker.

Never heard of Tumblr.

 

[Zoom-boing]

My 14 yr old got grounded from hanging with her friends irl . . .again . . . and was also grounded off of facebook. So smarty pants decided to start 'following people' on Tumblr. It's just a blog site where people blog about their life and other people follow them. Srsly? Some of the shit these people (mostly kids under 21) were posting? No way Jose. Solution? A few weeks back I got Firefox's add-on FoxFilter. For $10/yr you can block just about anything you want off of each account you've put the add-on onto. Tumblr is now blocked. Personally I wish Facebook was only allowed for the 18-and-over crowd.

While I love the internet and all it is definitely a time-sucker.

Never heard of Tumblr.

Neither had I . . my 21 yr old told me about it.

Ok, SRSLY I'm logging off. Now. No, really I am.

 

[Foxfyre]

I probably spend 15 minutes a day tops, sometimes not even that, reading and posting on Facebook. From what I've seen some of the young-uns may spend somewhat more time than that, but none seems to be going overboard and all have full active lives apart from the internet world. Almost our entire family is on Facebook--grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, great niecies/nephews, as well as old friends, classmates, business associates, and church members. Nobody is going to post something 'strange' or 'unsettling' without it being noticed.

It is a way to stay in touch with people scattered coast to coast and in a couple of foreign countries or in the service. For all of us it has been a positive experience.

But yes, if ones on line experience in ANY capacity, not just Facebook, is causing chronic negative feelings or depression - or - if the person has obviously become addicted to some online activity - then the plug should be pulled.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I guarantee that watching television 7 hours a day is worse than being on Facebook 7 hours a day.