2023-06-27 20:15:00
How to fight once morest the overexposure of young people to social networks? For several weeks, under the impetus of the authorities, digital companies have been called upon to review their copy. In France, while the National Assembly voted a few weeks ago to introduce compulsory parental control for those under 15 on social networks, the company Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger) announces that Tuesday the creation at the start of a “Parent Campus”. Objective: to help them better support their teenagers in the use of networks.
“We delivered the Internet and social networks to people without the instructions. The parents didn’t have it either, especially since they themselves didn’t even grow up with it. We now have enough perspective to put back the cursor in the right place”, Judge Dr. Caroline Nocca. This addict-pediatrician at the CHU-Lenval in Nice delivers 6 tips for parents.
#1 Initiate your child in the use of social networks
For the practitioner from Nice, learning to use social networks implies an initiation and a real commitment from the parents. “When you teach your child to ride a bike, you are at his side, it requires transmitting techniques, accompanying. It’s the same with digital”, advocates Caroline Nocca, who advises “do with” the teenager during his debut on the networks, especially not “deliver it to itself”.
“We can start by registering together, creating his avatar with him, controlling the friends he adds as we are interested in his encounters in life. Mentioning, in passing, that behind the digital identity of certain can hide from ill-intentioned individuals, as children were once taught not to accept candy from a stranger, following all!”
“It is also an opportunity to discuss with them the legal framework: if they act badly on the networks as minors, their parents may have to answer to justice”, details the practitioner. As the teenager grows, it is then up to the parent to let him gain autonomy, “once he feels it ready enough, like when you take the small wheels off the bike”.
#2 Forge critical thinking
Accompanying a teenager also means giving him the keys to “that he forges his critical spirit”, says the addict-pediatrician from Nice. “He won’t have it innately. The maturity of the brain also occurs around 20 years old… So he doesn’t have the ability to put information he receives on the Internet at a distance. It’s parents to explain”, she says.
Commercial approach on certain posts, operation of algorithms that lock in a bubble of taste and opinion, click traps… “Children are not aware of the issues at stake behind the networks.” And if we are not ready either as parents? “Many resources exist for documentation”, reassures the specialist. Among his advice: the government site I protect my child, or local associations such as La Bulle or Horizon multimedia.
#3 Do not outright ban or demonize social media
“In my office, I receive families in conflict, with a completely broken dialogue, because the parents have taken the opposite view of banning everything: TV, video games, social networks… This is not the solution because it above all generates a great frustration and a desire to transgress. Typically: it’s connection sharing with friends when parents cut off the Internet, etc.”warns Caroline Nocca, for whom there is no point in denying the fact that we all live in the digital age.
“There are also positive effects to this: access to a huge bank of information if you use it intelligently, keep the link with the other, develop psychosocial skills…”, lists the practitioner. Taking an interest in what your child is doing on the networks can also open up dialogue and fuel conversations. “And to enrich the family debate!”
#4 Establish rules
Rather than prohibiting, therefore, establishing rules and building trust is a necessity, according to the specialist. “No screens at the table for everyone, cutting the Internet connection at night, no telephone in the room up to and including 15 years old, for example… It’s a kind of contract that we make with his child”, details Caroline Nocca, .
#5 Lead by example as a parent
In this “CONTRACT” use of the telephone and social networks, the parent is also committed, recalls the practitioner. “It is also very complicated for the parents themselves to set limits. But for the teenager to respect those imposed on him, the key word is consistency. You have to set an example! Because otherwise, it’s like telling a child to finish his vegetables while eating a McDonald’s in front of him.”
#6 Know how to spot warning signs
How to detect, at parent level, a consumption of social networks that turns to addiction? By watching for a certain number of signals, recalls Caroline Nocca. “A teenager who suddenly isolates himself, becomes irritable, drops in school results, a loss of interest in activities he enjoyed doing… You have to be vigilant regarding these changes in behavior”warns the addict-pediatrician.
In case of doubt or concern, the practitioner advises to turn to a psychologist specializing in children and adolescents or to turn directly to the Lenval pediatric hospital center in Nice.
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