Almost everyone has at least one active social network site they use regularly, even for kids.  And sometimes kids are using socnets because their parents help set-up their profiles. And kids even as young as four years old know how to use a mobile phone for gaming or sending messages.  Some people may think that there’s no harm in that, what can go wrong?  Well, in a recent study done by Larry Rosen, a psychologist at Cal State Dominguez Hills, it showed that this can actually affect the psychological well-being of a person, especially excessive use.

The effect of too much Facebook, Twitter and other social media is that users tend to have more stomach aches, sleeping problems, anxiety and depression, and they often missed more school.  They become more narcissistic; they cannot study without checking either their mobile phones or their Facebook page, and those that do this often do poorly in school.  They also encounter physical stress like carpal tunnel syndrome.

But the study also shows that social media isn’t all that bad, as it was also noted that users are more able to show ‘virtual empathy’ which have helped some depressed people and that more introvert people are able to express themselves in online environments.

Some people think that kids knowing how to operate the computer or a smartphone or a tablet is cute, but as we can see, there’s some not-so-cute effects that can have long-term implications on physical and emotional health.  Parents should still talk to their kids on important matters, and not just let their kids spend all their time on the computer or on their mobile phones.

“You have to start talking about appropriate technology use early and often and build trust, so that when there is a problem, whether it is being bullied or seeing a disturbing image, your child will talk to you about it.”

“Communication is the crux of parenting. You need to talk to your kids, or rather, listen to them,” Rosen said. “The ratio of parent listen to parent talk should be at least five-to-one. Talk one minute and listen for five.”