‘Living in a material world, cause I am a material girl’ – We have all sung these famous Madonna lyrics at one stage or another, now it is more true than ever. We live in a world addicted to technology. Now, children and young adults are getting wrapped up in this materialistic world. It is thought that the kids of today prioritise their social media accounts, gadgets and other materialistic items over their education and personal goals.
The legal age to create a Facebook account is 13 years old, so why do children as young as 10 and 11 feel the need to create an account? I may be contradicting myself here as I created my account when I was 12 years old (sorry for lying to you Facebook). However, my mum knew I had it and made sure I wasn’t adding anyone I didn’t know personally.
Back then it was only Facebook, now kids are signing up to Instagram, Twitter, Youtube and previously Vine (RIP), making it more and more difficult for parents and carers to keep an eye on what their children are getting up to. This does make us wonder what has led children to make these decisions. What is the pressure with getting yourself on social media at such a young age? From personal experience, I do remember how excited I was to create my very first Facebook profile. The excitement of uploading photos and adding all my friends was just too much, which of course led to the very embarrassing statuses and comments that we all live to regret a few years down the line. However, it seems like children of today are attempting to grow up a lot quicker than they should.
To be able to create an account on social media, children need access to the Internet. According to a study conducted in 2013, one in three children between the ages of 5 and 15 own their own tablet. Yes you heard me, children as young as 5 years old now have access to their own tablets. Something I couldn’t have even imagined at that age. Therefore, the younger the children have access to smart devices and the internet, the chances of them wanting to create social media accounts from a young age is going to increase, as it will be something they will be exposed to online. One family mentioned in an article in the Guardian told of how their child’s first word was not mum or dad – but iPad.
When I was little I remember excitedly circling dolls, board games and cuddly toys in the Argos catalogue ready for Christmas, now it seems that children already know what they want, and in today’s society, they now expect it. Christmas now seems to be more about how many presents they receive or how good their new smartphone is – god forbid can you receive an iPhone 4S in 2016, that phone was so 2013. Don’t even consider buying an Android.
With technology improving and advancing hugely every year it is no surprise that children now have access to smartphones and brand new devices, but I think there is a limit as to how young these children should be. Of course technology can inspire children, and lead them on to wonderful careers. The world of technology can be exciting, and allowing children to get engaged in this can have a brilliant effect on their education, but do these children really need to own a tablet themselves? Is that a bit extreme? Or should parents wait until their children are a bit older, so they can understand the dangers of the online world. I believe making one small change can make all the difference, what happened to reading a good old book? – And yes I mean an actual book and not one off a kindle.
Thanks for reading!
Holly
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