Crippling Our Youth

Clothes, Phones, Social Media = Negative Influences

By Mel E. FurnishPublished 4 years ago • Updated 2 years ago • 6 min read

I agree with this post for a variety of reasons.

I'm sick of seeing parents encouraging their kids to dress and act like this at such a young age. They're not ready for that. They're too young to allow their emotions to be affected by likes, shares, reactions, etc. Social media has already caused a lot of mental health issues for thousands across the world, already from teens to college kids, to even some adults. Social media is great for staying connected, but its dangerous for anyone who is using it for purely for an emotional addiction.

A kid shouldn't be given their own phone until their older, maybe once they start sports, even then. Phones are more dangerous than mostly everyone would like to admit, unfortunately. They will have you living a fake life, a virtual escape. Its a negative reinforcement for how you view and feel about yourself and your life. When you become so obsessed with how many likes you get or don't get, it can either make you feel really good and get you addicted to that feeling, or it can mentally destroy you. The problem with handing this sort of device to a child to begin developing these psychological issues before they are even remotely developed, is real. I have been talking about this issue for a while now, and I believe its only going to get far worse.

If you're trying to get your kid to leave you alone, or just trying to distract them, hand them books, encourage them to read. The more they read, the more they'll learn and the more powerful their thinking will be. Their minds need to be exposed to positive things to help build them up, not negative things to tear them down before they are even in middle school.

This is a problem that has become a huge contribution as to why we've seen so many young kids killing themselves on Facebook or Instagram live. They are becoming depressed before they know ways to cope, before they are even able to give their life a chance to grow out of the phase we all struggle through. Phones and social media do make it harder to face these troubles. From bullying, to feeling left out, to being fake and having fake friends. If they are already learning from a young age to base their worth and value on likes or views, whatever, then they are doomed from the start to have a rough time growing up. By doing this to your kids you are, in a way, forcing them to grow up way too fast.

These sort of thoughts and feelings are not good for children to have before they even understand that they need to accept who they are and their appearance to be happy in the skin their in. These sort of foolish things we are inflicting on our youth are merely setting up the future for a mentally unstable and frail society. Like I said before, we are already beginning to see the proof and evidence from some generations close to mine and the ones that have followed.

Stop making your kids grow up before they're even developed. Let them grow into it in their own time. They shouldn't feel they need to be like the older girls on social media; they shouldn't feel like they have to have so many likes in order to "matter" in this world. Raise your kids to be strong and comfortable just the way they are, and give them a phone at the right time when they actually may need one.

The virtual world is vast and dangerous. You wouldn't let your kid walk down an empty dark alley alone, would you? Don't mistake social media and the virtual universe for a safe, positive place. It's simply not.

The clothes are the same. They are doing it because its "cool" and because its the "norm" of popular society and or the current fashion bandwagon. They are too young to be looking to attract the eyes of creeps, perverts, and men/boys in general.

I used to sarcastically say the whole: "Oh, I'm sorry my exposed shoulder from my spaghetti-strap tank-top arouses you, but-." Ultimately, yes men/boys need to control themselves, but it still shouldn't be relevant here. It should be obvious that this should only be the concern of an older girl, a young woman, not a child. In a perfect world, it wouldn't be a concern at all. In a perfect world, pigs wouldn't exist to say: "She was asking for it because of what she was wearing."

That's a middle school into high school, teen problem. Not a child's problem. Stop inadvertently creating these negative aspects in your kids' young, undeveloped minds. They are children, not sex symbols or toys. Let your kid have their childhood, don't take it away from them before they even reach middle school.

Every time there is something I write or think about when it comes to social media and the negative aspects of phones, I will always think of this video:

It's ironic how the more relevant this video gets over the years. We thought it was bad then; stop, think and reflect, and take a look at our society now...

I believe I wrote this in another article here on Vocal, but I will go ahead and write it again. Phones have severely crippled the communication skills (and many other life skills) that we need in order to be successful in life. Phones are often referred to as a "security blanket" for some with anxiety when conversing with someone or multiple people. So many people today base their happiness and their worth on how many likes they can get. Their confidence is purely based on fake, unsteady walls they have locked themselves within. The sad reality is that when it gets bad, reality is no longer where they want to be, thus why many end up committing suicide.

While phones do have their benefits and uses, they are not the best invention. If anything, similar to the TV, they are merely distracting us and wasting a lot of the limited time that we have in life. Thousands of people are losing touch with reality, thanks to these captivating devices...

******

If you liked what you read, please: like, share, subscribe, pledge, and or tip! Thank you for reading! :D

******

Most Read Story: Rick's Suicide Attempt

Top Liked Story: The Cursed Hand