Sociale media – een vijand en een vriend
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Een bericht naar aanleiding van het verschijnen van het rapport van het Amerikaanse ‘A Surgeon General’s Advisory’, een adviesorgaan in de USA die de vinger aan de pols houdt wat betreft gezondheid.
Social media and youth mental health (PDF). |
We nemen wat aanbevelingen over.
A Surgeon General’s Advisory is a public statement that calls the American people’s attention to an urgent public health issue and provides recommendations for how it should be addressed. Advisories are reserved for significant public health challenges that require the nation’s immediate awareness and action. This Advisory calls attention to the growing concerns about the effects of social media on youth mental health. It explores and describes the current evidence on the positive and negative impacts of social media on children and adolescents, some of the primary areas for mental health and well-being concerns, and opportunities for additional research to help understand the full scope and scale of social media’s impact. This document is not an exhaustive review of the literature. Rather, it was developed through a substantial review of the available evidence, primarily found via electronic searches of research articles published in English and resources suggested by a wide range of subject matter experts, with priority given to, but not limited to, meta-analyses and systematic literature reviews.
What policymakers can do
Strengthen protections to ensure greater safety for children interacting with all social media platforms
Develop age-appropriate health and safety standards
etc.
What Technology Companies can do
Conduct and facilitate transparent and independent assessments of the impact of social media products and services on children and adolescents
Prioritize user health and safety in the design and development of social media products and services
etc.
What Parents and Caregivers can do
Create a family media plan
Create tech-free zones and encourage children to foster in-person friendships
etc.
What Children and Adolescents can do
Reach out for help
Create boundaries to help balance online and offline activities
etc.
What Researchers can do
Establish the impact of social media on youth mental health as a research priority and develop a shared research agenda
Develop and establish standardized definitions and measures
etc.
Wat kunnen we hiermee in Nederland?
Er is anno 2023 een levendig debat in Nederland over het toestaan van mobieltjes in het onderwijs, e.d. Het is niet makkelijk om daarin de juiste keuzes te maken in dit gebied van het gebruik van sociale media. Dit rapport is genuanceerd: het waarschuwt voor de gevaren, maar laat ook de belangrijke meerwaarde zien (binnen en buiten het onderwijs).
