Heads Up Parents: A new study important information about life in adolescents Online

Let's face it: most parents do not know what their teenagers are doing online. According to a new study, even parents who think they know what is going missing more.

For the study, in partnership with CNN two researchers - Marion Underwood, University of Texas and Robert Faris, University of California, Davis - to study the life of social media 216 eighth graders in eight secondary schools of Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Virginia.  

The researchers installed software that monitored what teens have been queuing for six months (with their permission) and had completed questionnaires adolescents and their parents at the beginning and end. Some highlights of the large study that all parents of teenagers should know:

13 are "intensely engaged with social media." It is not a surprise to anyone who has hung a 13 year old recently. About 63% of young people in the study were in Instagram, 34% were on Twitter, and 20% were on Facebook. On average, they publish four times a week. They also spend more time online than in the media; most of the time spent watching and reading what others do online.

FOMO (afraid to lose) is a great reason to get online. Teenagers see social networks as a way to connect with their peers and see what they do, and frequently check social media. One in five teens if anyone said anything to each other, which is sad - and one in three checks to see if your friends do not do anything without them. Although the most common reason for social media monitoring is boredom (80%), many adolescents see social media as the main way to know what your friends are doing.

There is a dark side to form: the study found that teens who spend a lot of "lurking" time online were more likely to experience anxiety - feel excluded, feel enough is not popular, upset by things that read or online dispute. Because ...

Online conflict is common. In the study, 42% of students reported a conflict - usually with a friend - at least once a month. There are also conflicts that arise when young people feel they have been excluded from society, and conflict often develops with friends online.

Adolescents view social networks as a barometer of popularity. For teenagers, especially teenagers, popularity is very important - and the supporters, "love", "tags", and comments may seem a quantifiable way to measure popularity.

Interestingly, two groups of teenagers were more likely to experience distress were those using social media to try and increase its popularity and adolescents who feel attractive they do not get enough recognition through the media.

Parents do not really know what their children are doing. The document was signed a few examples of the disconnect between what parents have said and thought about the online behavior of their children and what is actually happening. The authors wrote: "Parents systematically underestimate the amount of emotion and their children experiencing negative behavior problems, and overestimated the amount of happiness and fun in their teens were in the process".

This does not mean that the online experience is mostly negative for youth. However, most young people said made them feel good, and that allowed them to connect and make new friends and find support.

In reality, teen life online is simply an extension of their offline life. The subjects are all the same. They simply are played in a different space, which can be both good - and dangerous. That is why it is so important that parents are involved. In fact, the study found that when parents were aware of what their children were doing online, their children were less likely to experience distress. 

The authors said that they agreed with the researcher Danah Boyd, who wrote in his 2014 book is not so easy: the social life of teenagers in the network:

    "What makes the secure digital street is when adolescents and adults collectively agree to open their eyes and listen, communicate and collaborate negotiate difficult situations. Adolescents need the freedom to move in the digital street, but also to know that caring adults are behind them and support them wherever they go The first step is to disable the tracking software then ask your children that they are doing when they are online - ... And why it is so important to them " That is very good advice.
By: Claire McCarthy,MD,