The Social Dilemma - Mental health of children

After recently watching the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma (Director Jeff Orlowski, 2020), recommended to us by our course leader. I found myself shocked by the statistics and ethnical discussions involved within social media, and how some of the founders of the social media industry are scared of what they have helped discover and make.

Working along with vulnerable children and teenagers, a large majority involved with "healthy young minds" safety online is a key emphasis on my practice and there are a number of tactics we have in place to help limit the amount of online access they have. Including; an E-safety award. Meaning they are unable to use any form of internet in school without the award, including personal mobile phones. Screen watch, allowing teachers and teaching assistants to see exactly what the student is on, to name a few.

The amount of SEN children who struggle with their mental health is already high. They are more "likely to experience mental health problems than the general population." (Minds.org, 2020) They struggle to understand their emotions and how to express themselves. Along with trying to come to terms and understand why they are "different." as " As human beings, we have a natural desire to be accepted and to belong." (Dr Eilidh Cage, 2018) Then with the added pressure of social media on top of this and them wanting to "fit in" there is no surprise that they are easily influenced by what is going on through social media both personally and for the economy.

The documentary states that the amount of self harm that has gone up since 2009 (around the time social media presented itself.) for 10-14 year old by 171% and 15-19 year olds by 62%. Along with the coloration of suicides for 10-14 year olds 151% and 15-19 year olds 70%. This is a unruly amount in such a short amount of time. It's not just me that thinks this it's backed up with technology geniuses stating that. "we have a ban on social media in the house" and "we limit the amount of social media my children use." A few also stated that they are no longer in that line of work as they didn't agree with the direction social media was going. That the money making/business and how many likes you got on a photo was more important than mental health of others plus family and true friend relationships. It was also talked about as a form of addiction. The realisation that children as young as 10 and under have access to a platform that holds these kinds of statics is thoughtless on the makers behalf. Making myself and many others question, is social media really a good thing? 

There were many other points in the documentary which it went into depth about, I chose this to write a blog about the mental health side as I see on a day to day how it affects the children I work with. I highly recommend everyone to watch it as it expresses the bad in social media where before I have only ever see the good in it; being able to stay connected, building contacts, a platform for freelance performance/teaching jobs plus a way to promote myself. However now with an expanding practice seeing it from a different point of view and how it can effect younger more influential and vulnerable people, it has almost changed my mind of how I think of it.

https://youtu.be/XkShgkNO-Yk 

I have attached a video of a young adult talking about her mental health along with autism. I feel that teaching about autism and neurodiversity is something that needs be more known and normalised,  so others can understand that sometimes when you see, what you think is "naughty" behaviour. It could be sensory or noise overload which sends some people into crises that could lead to an negative mental health without the correct support.

resources:

https://www.mind.org.uk/about-us/our-policy-work/equality-and-human-rights/mental-health-of-people-with-autism/

https://socialsolihull.org.uk/localoffer/family-information-service-directory/4532/youngminds/

https://socialsolihull.org.uk/localoffer/ehc-plans/

https://healthyyoungmindspennine.nhs.uk/resource-centre/external-links/making-sense-of-mental-health/

https://network.autism.org.uk/good-practice/evidence-base/autism-acceptance-and-mental-health