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use of social media and safety measures:

Social media has become an integral part of our daily lives. It has been said

that Information is power. Without a means of distributing information, people
cannot harness the power. One positive impact of social media is in the distribution
of information in today\ world. Development of mobile technology and emergence
of smart phones combined with platfurms such as Facebook, riniidtn, Twitter and

others have made it possible to distribute and access information at the click of a but-
ton. It is hard to find anyone without having access to social media in this modern

age' Whether we
forget to have our morning cofee or not, no one wiII ever
forget to
check the status of the Facebook account on a daily basis!

The internet and social media provides a range of benefits and opportunities
to young people - maintain social connections, access to information, help with ed-
ucation, promoting a noble cause or awareness and so on. At the same token there
is a higlt element of risk that comes along with it. We have heard so many stories
about cyber bullying, hacking,
frauds/scams and even deaths/suicides resultingfrom
the use of social media. Cyber bultying is becoming more common as more young
people ioin online social networking sites. Approximately 34o/o of students ,rpoi

experiencing cyberbullying during their lifetime and 15o/o of stuilents admitted to
cyberbullying others during their lifttime (Patchin, 2015). Teen girk are more likely
to be the targets of cyberbutlying than teen boys. Social media isilso qssociated
with
mental health problems, which includes depression, sleep disturbances, and eating
concerns among young adults (lournal of Adolescent Health, 2012). Apart
from
social issues, misuse of social media can have an impact on ones' career develolment

as well. An August 2009 survey conducted by CareerBuilder.com shows that people
who make decisions about hiring job applicants do more than just read a resume or
application. There were instances where job candidates were turned down because

of the inappropriate photographs or information they shared over the social media.

So, we may wonder what the solution is or how to minimize the negative
impacts of social media. Aftu hearing about all these negative stories, we may be
tempted to block our children
from using social media at all. This, of course, is not
the right option. Drastically cutting your child of
from modern technology doesn,t
necessarily prepare them
for lift now or when they enter adulthood. The fact is, oug
world today is now online. It is the reality and there is no way we can go back to the
old ways of doing things. What we can do is just like teaching our kidl good morals,

we need to equip them with the rght tools to navigate the online realm and get the
most out of what the technology has to ofer to them.