A new study is showing that teenagers are not as lonely during pandemic lockdowns if they have positive interactions online. COVID-19 has introduced a very lonely world, especially for teenagers. They were completing school remotely; they could not see their family and friends and their extracurricular activities were all put on hold. These are very important things for a teenager, who is at a difficult time of development and relies on social interactions to navigate their world. This led them to flock to the online world and social media, and parents may have had concerns about how much time their child was spending online.
According to Medical Xpress, a new study is showing that teenagers who had positive interactions online, were not as lonely during lockdowns. The key element of this study is the word ‘positive,’ and the internet can be full of hateful cyberbullies, so it was quality that matters.
This study was completed by UC Berkeley, and it can be read in full here. The researchers stated that when it comes to teenagers and screen time, the number of hours they spend online does not really matter as much as the quality of the interactions that they were having.
The study was completed with 70 adolescents in Peru during the country’s strictest lockdowns. They found that teenagers who reported that they were spending time online talking to their friends and family members, or who played multiplayer games, stated that they were not as lonely as those who did not. Dr. Lucia Magis0Weinberg was the lead author of the study and she stated that this proves the theory they have had for a while about online time for teenagers.
Parents don't need to focus on how much time their child is spending online, but rather focus on what they are doing when they are online. If they are online talking to friends, family members, or interacting positively during an online game, this can help boost their mental health and keep them from feeling lonely when their community goes into lockdown. They are making the suggestion to educators and parents that they should focus their attention on teaching their children how to have positive interactions online rather than trying to limit the time their child uses social media and the internet. That this is a much better way to use energy and time, because the digital world is here to stay, and the focus should be on how we can make sure our children are benefitting from it.
Sources: Medical Xpress, Wiley Online Library