{"id":5354,"date":"2026-07-06T22:25:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T20:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gyerekrehangolva.hu\/?p=5354"},"modified":"2026-07-06T22:25:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T20:25:55","slug":"kozossegi-media-artalmai-gyerekek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/kozossegi-media-artalmai-gyerekek\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond bullying: how social media can harm children"},"content":{"rendered":"

Young people today start using social media very early on, and even young children navigate video-sharing platforms with considerable confidence. We are allowing them to enter a world that we ourselves do not really understand, and for that very reason we are unable to monitor it to ensure their safety.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most children today grow up surrounded by screens. Even as babies, they often look up at a smartphone whilst their parents take photos and videos of them, and they are introduced to the captivating images of animated stories and music videos at a very early age. These children are growing up differently from their parents: for us, the world was not yet so fast-paced, vibrant and influential, and it is precisely this generation gap that could pose serious problems.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s digital and online world is evolving at such a pace that it is not easy for parents to keep up. We are aware of the benefits to a certain extent, and we may have some idea of the drawbacks too; yet, as consumers, our lack of knowledge is greater, and this also has a major puts them at risk. These days, everyone, regardless of age, is online almost immediately. A photo of most newborns and babies is posted on Facebook or Instagram, 3- to 4-year-olds can watch YouTube on their own tablets, whilst primary school children very quickly become active on several social media platforms (and not primarily on Facebook). We are allowing them to enter a world that we ourselves do not really understand, and for that very reason, we cannot control it properly. Indeed, as cyberpsychologist Mary Aiken puts it <\/span><\/span> Cyber Trap<\/i> In his book entitled: \u201eNeither end of the online pool is shallow.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are the product<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When the topic of children\u2019s vulnerability online comes up, most of us are most concerned about harassment or scams from strangers, or simply screen addiction. These are important risks that need to be addressed, but unfortunately, online social spaces harbour far more predictable dangers inherent in the very way they operate \u2013 yet few of us are aware of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recently published Social dilemma<\/i> ((The Social Dilemma)<\/i> In the documentary *[Title]*, those who have actually worked on the development teams of the biggest tech companies (Google, Facebook, Twitter) shed light on the influence these platforms exert. According to them, whilst these products were created with the best of intentions, they have now taken a frightening turn. The programmes are powered by algorithms that monitor, track and measure all our online activity. They record which videos you\u2019ve watched, whose photos you\u2019ve viewed, for how long, and what kind of notification prompted you to pick up your phone\u2026 Based on this data, they create a model or avatar of us; by constantly updating this, they form an increasingly accurate picture of who we are, get to know our habits and feelings, and thus try to keep us glued to the screen even more. All this is done purely for the profit generated by the adverts on the platform. The competition is for advertisers, to whom we \u2013 our attention \u2013 are sold, because, thanks to algorithms, they understand how we function emotionally and psychologically better than anyone else. And we are not preparing our children for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extent of the influence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/span> Digital devices affect us and our behaviour in many different ways. Research<\/a> demonstrate, for example, that fast-paced cartoons and animated films overstimulate the still-developing brains of children under the age of 5<\/a> their brains. These factors reduce children\u2019s creativity and independence, and by the time they reach school age, the incidence of attention and concentration difficulties may increase. To be precise, every single hour storytelling<\/a> (or watching other videos) can increase this risk by 10 per cent. Just think about how often we hand our children a digital device on which they can watch YouTube videos with adverts \u2013 and perhaps on continuous playback \u2013 almost without limit? Yet data collection, model updates and the resulting increase in our susceptibility to influence do not disappear here either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The situation is becoming even more challenging for primary school pupils and teenagers, as they are even less able to be shielded from the digital and online world. Nowadays, the vast majority of primary school children have a mobile phone (and a smartphone at that), which is essentially intended to ensure their safety and give us peace of mind. However, apart from calls and text messages, everything else is also accessible to them, without any particular guidance. They play online games, watch videos and visit social media sites (Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok), all of which they do in every spare moment they have. Fewer and fewer of them are able to cope independently, without the aid of devices. For them, life happens online \u2013 and they don\u2019t want to miss out on it \u2013 yet they don\u2019t realise that this isn\u2019t real life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justin Rosenstein, a former engineer at Facebook, was involved in creating the \u201eLike\u201d button. Their aim was to increase positive reinforcement, yet now teenagers are suffering from severe depression because of it, as they do not receive \u2018enough\u2019 likes. Nowadays, teenagers look to the online world for feedback to help shape their self-image. However, due to the sheer volume of platforms, adverts and profiles that create illusions, they are exposed to enormous risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may also be worth bearing in mind that, because of the ease of online chatting, our children may increasingly lose the habit of face-to-face interactions<\/a>. Chat rooms lack facial expressions, body language and other forms of metacommunication, and as a result, children\u2019s ability to recognise emotions may also be weakened. But life continues to take place offline; this is where our children will have to hold their own, and how well they acquire these skills will play a major role in their success. The world of the internet has brought about a major change in our lives, yet few of us are able to adequately assess its negative effects, and even fewer know how to counteract them. Even those who know exactly how this world works can easily become addicted. The best we can do, therefore, is to stay informed, gain knowledge, and try to protect our children as much as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A parent\u2019s responsibility<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/span> We are not all-powerful, so we cannot protect our children from every harm, but neither can we shirk our responsibility. We continue to play the most important role in this regard. The example we set, the conversations we have with them and the sensible rules<\/a> They will provide the primary protection for children. It is up to us to find out how this new world works and how we can exercise a certain degree of control over it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can watch films on this subject (including the one mentioned above) or read books to gain a clear understanding of what we\u2019re up against and how best to protect our children. At present, there is no programme that can reliably filter and regulate children\u2019s content consumption on various websites. Although YouTube has launched a \u2018Kids\u2019 version, this is not yet available in Hungary. Facebook does offer a parents\u2019 portal where we can find information on the subject, but we must recognise that these companies will not solve the problem for us, as this is not their primary objective. It is up to us to build the right relationship with our children, to foster and lay the foundations for that close bond which allows for open questions, discussions and conversations on the subject. This will equip them, in time, to interpret and weigh up situations for themselves, and to make sensible decisions to protect themselves and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally published on: divany.hu, 15 October 2020.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A mai fiatalok m\u00e1r nagyon hamar felker\u00fclnek az online k\u00f6z\u00f6ss\u00e9gi oldalakra, a kisgyerekek pedig kell\u0151 magabiztoss\u00e1ggal kezelik a vide\u00f3megoszt\u00f3 platformokat. Egy olyan vil\u00e1gba enged\u00fcnk sz\u00e1mukra bel\u00e9p\u00e9st, amit mi sem ismer\u00fcnk val\u00f3j\u00e1ban, \u00e9s \u00e9ppen ez\u00e9rt kontroll\u00e1lni sem tudjuk az \u0151 v\u00e9delm\u00fck \u00e9rdek\u00e9ben. A mai gyerekek t\u00f6bbs\u00e9ge k\u00e9perny\u0151k k\u00f6z\u00f6tt n\u0151 fel. M\u00e1r csecsem\u0151k\u00e9nt is gyakran n\u00e9znek fel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5355,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[209],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-divany"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5354"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5357,"href":"https:\/\/gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5354\/revisions\/5357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gyerekrehangolva.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}