Teenagers now prefer text messages to face-to-face communication; a third were cyber-bullied

We are increasingly concerned about the impact on teens of using smartphones in general and social networks in particular.

A new report makes reading worrying in many ways, including that 13-17 year olds now prefer text messaging to face-to-face conversations …

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The report entitled Social media, social life: adolescents reveal their experiences, Was published by Common Sense, which describes itself as "the leading independent non-profit organization dedicated to helping children thrive in a world of media and technology."

Axios highlighted some of the main conclusions.

The proportion of teens who prefer in-person interaction has dropped from 49% in 2012 to 32% in 2018. Text messages are now the preferred mode of communication.

35% of teenagers say they have been bullied, compared to only 5% in 2012.

33% of teens say that they would like their parents to spend less time on their devices, compared to 21% in 2012.

A finding seemed contradictory:

54% of teens agree that the use of social media often distracts them when they are with people and 44% say they are frustrated when their friends use their phone when they are lying around. Yet 55% of respondents say they never or never put their devices in touch with friends.

Researcher Vicky Rideout suggested that this could be explained by a downward spiral.

I wonder if we are seeing the beginnings of a strange negative feedback loop where we can not help but be on our devices when we are with other people, and we are angry with d & rsquo; Others to be distracted by their devices with us – so we do not want to spend time with people in person, because it is easier to interact with them on our devices.

More than two-thirds of teens believe that social media has had a negative impact on people their age, and 40% of them "sometimes want to be able to return to a time when social media did not exist."

An earlier study looked at American teenagers and their parents, saying the two people were distracted by their phones. Instagram last week announced a guide for parents to help them keep their children safe when they use the app.

Apple is helping to combat the overuse of iPhones through a Screen Time feature of iOS 12.

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