Kids and Social Networking: Pros and Cons Essay -- Facebook and Pretee

In 2010, 57% of kids used the internet at home, and 85% had access to a computer at home (Child Trends, 2012). In 2012, the National Consumers League reported that 32% of children ages 8-10 and 69% of 11 and 12 year olds had their own cell phone. Of these, almost 50% could access the internet through their phone. In addition, children have access to everything on the internet at the touch of a button through newer technology, such as the iPad, iPad mini, mp3 players, and iPod Touch. And with devices like the iPod, parents may only think about it as a music device and not realize that they are opening the whole internet to their child. It is estimated that there are about 5.6 million Facebook accounts that are used by children 12 and under, and this is only one social networking site. Parents and school personnel need to be knowledgeable and ready to instruct children on the best and safest way to use and benefit from the internet. Benefits of Social Networking for Peer Relationships Research has shown many positives and negatives of social networking for children in the 9-12 age group. For those who have heard mainly about the risks and challenges, it may be surprising to learn there are many benefits social networking sites can add to social development. The following are some examples researchers have reported: Social Networking can help children 1. who may be isolated in their own community, such as those who have interests beyond what is available locally or who have a disability that limits physical contact with peers, find compatible peers and build an otherwise unavailable sense of community (Steward, Barnfather, Magill-Evans, Ray, & Letourneau, 2011) 2. who are â€Å"only children† o... ...& Letourneau, N. (2011). Brief report: An online support intervention: Perceptions of adolescents with physical disabilities. Journal of Adolescence, 34(4), 795-800. Subrahmanyam, K. & Greenfield, P. (2008).Online communication and adolescent relationships.The Future of Children, 18(1), 119-146. Valkenburg, P.M. & Peter, J. (2007).Preadolescents’ and adolescents’ online communication and their closeness to friends. Journal of Developmental Psychology, 43(2), 267-277. Valkenburg, P.M., Peter, J., & Schouten, A.P. (2006).Friend networking sites and their relationship to adolescents' well-being and social self-esteem.Journal of CyberPsychology and Behavior, 9(5), 584-590. Valkenburg, P.M., Schouten, A.P., & Peter, J. (2005). Adolescent identity experiments on the internet. Journal of New Media and Society, 7(3), 383-402. Author: Jessica Krier