Sexting scare: 6 sexting myths busted
It seems incredible that teens, even 17-year-olds who can legally have sex, could end up on a register for sexting. Of course, it’s important that young people understand the serious implications sexting could have, but criminalising the craze seems like a step too far. Instead of frightening teens into ditching their naked selfies, wouldn't it be better to educate them? But with sex education lessons still in need of a 21st century revamp, it looks like that’s not going to happen anytime soon. Sarah Bazaraa, a solicitor at Pannone Corporate, talks me through the civil legal issues that being involved in sexting could lead to. 1) You could end up with a police caution Sending a naked image of yourself via text message, or social media, when you’re below the age of 18 is technically illegal. Detective Sergeant Jan Rusdale of the Nottinghamshire force warns: “[People who do it] could end up on the register for a couple of years. 2) It’s worse to send a photo of a sexual act
Essena O'Neill quits Instagram claiming social media 'is not real life' | Media
An Australian teenager with more than half a million followers on Instagram has quit the platform, describing it as “contrived perfection made to get attention”, and called for others to quit social media – perhaps with help from her new website. Essena O’Neill, 18, said she was able to make an income from marketing products to her 612,000 followers on Instagram – “$2000AUD a post EASY”. But her dramatic rejection of social media celebrity has won her praise. On 27 October she deleted more than 2,000 pictures “that served no real purpose other than self-promotion”, and dramatically edited the captions to the remaining 96 posts in a bid to to reveal the manipulation, mundanity, and even insecurity behind them. O’Neill did not respond to requests for an interview. A photo of her wearing a bikini, once captioned “Things are getting pretty wild at my house. “Why would you tell your followers that you’re paid a lot to promote what you promote? “Yet I, myself, was consumed by it.
More than a quarter of children who spend longer on social networking websites report mental ill-health symptoms
Children who spent more than three hours using social networking websites on a school day were twice as likely to report high or very high scores for mental ill-health. The Children’s Well-being 2015 publication, which for the first time includes an analysis of data on children’s mental ill-health, revealed that of those who were online for more than three hours, 27% reported high or very high scores for mental ill-health. This is more than double those spending no time on them (12%) or those spending up to three hours on social media (11%). Total difficulty score type by time spent using social media on a school day, UK, 2011 to 2012 Download the data The Insights into Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing report is part of of ONS’s work on the well-being of children. It looks at data from the Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire, designed by Prof Robert Goodman, which screens the behaviour of children aged two to 17. Download the data Children’s Mental Health:
Manchester police face legal bid over teen's naked photo details
Image copyright Getty Images A police force is facing a legal challenge against its refusal to delete the details of a teenager who sent a naked photograph of himself on social media to a girl at his school. The 14-year-old boy was not arrested or prosecuted by Greater Manchester Police. But his mother said she was concerned police could release the information to potential employers when he is older. The High Court is due to consider the case this morning. The boy used a messaging site to send a photo of his naked body to the girl, who then shared it with others. Police took no action against him other than to record on their database that he had taken and forwarded an "indecent" image of himself, logged under a section entitled "Obscene Publications". Greater Manchester Police has refused to delete the boy's name from its files, a decision his mother is contesting at the court, which is sitting in Manchester.
The social media generation.. sad but true
The Parent Trap: 5 Family Friendly Rules For Using Technology At Home
Confession: I am not a parent. So why in the world would I want to write an article about family friendly rules for using technology at home? What parental experience do I have? Well, when it comes to parenting, I’m not qualified. I was raised on technology, and I’ve learned from parents who had to adapt to a child who is living in a world run by technology. Let’s see if we can answer that question together. Don’t Eat Media For Dinner In the book Fahrenheit 451, families sit around reading scripts out loud to interact with actors projected on gigantic screens — pretty weird stuff. Televisions, tablets, smartphones, laptops — they are constantly on our person. Simply put, don’t let this basic aspect of humanity fade away. Video Chats Aren’t Just Another Video Skype, Oovoo, Facetime – all familiar names in most households these days. So the next time your kid asks if they can Skype with her friend, think to yourself, “Would I let her friend come visit this house right now?” Possibly.
Is social media causing childhood depression?
Rangan Chatterjee is a GP and says he has seen plenty of evidence of the link between mental ill-health in youngsters and their use of social media. One 16 year-old boy was referred to him after he self-harmed and ended up in A&E. "The first thought was to put him on anti-depressants but I chatted to him and it sounded like his use of social media was having a negative impact on his health." So Dr Chatterjee suggested a simple solution - the teenager should attempt to wean himself off social media, restricting himself to just an hour before he went to bed. "He reported a significant improvement in his wellbeing and, after six months, I had a letter from his mother saying he was happier at school and integrated into the local community." That and similar cases have led him to question the role social media plays in the lives of young people. "Social media is having a negative impact on mental health," he said. He is not alone. Google did not want to comment publicly.
Life is now commonly one of social connection
Antisocial media: why I decided to cut back on Facebook and Instagram | Life and style
It was winter 2016 when I reached rock bottom. I went on a three-day Facebook binge. I can’t remember what set it off, but I remember how it ended. I woke up in a gutter, heart pounding, thinking I was going to die. I knew then that I needed help. I needed to stop. None of that is true, of course, because it doesn’t work like that. In fact, many of us don’t consider checking social media multiple times a day to be a bad habit – it is normal, right? Because we are all hooked, it can be hard to recognise your social media habits as problematic. But I didn’t stop using Facebook – or any other social media. So, I decided to quit Facebook – and I failed miserably, because Facebook makes it incredibly difficult for you to extricate yourself from its clutches. After clicking “deactivate” and re-entering your password, the emotional blackmail starts: Facebook shows you a slideshow of your friends and suggests that you send them a message. Anyway, forget cockroaches.
