Thomas Zickler

Professor Padgett
Writing Inquiry in Academic Contexts II
7 April 2014
Children and Social Media Research Paper
Computers used to be rare and expensive, but now computers can be found in
every home. With computers becoming more and more popular people are starting to use
them at younger and younger ages. People of all ages are using computers for many
purposes; this includes young children using them for different social applications. Not
every thing involving computers and social medias are bad, especially for children whose
parents are involved in their lives, the benefits out way the consequences. Social medias
allow children to more easily communicate with their peers from school, and people of
their age from all around the world, it also allows them to not feel so alone, while also
allowing them to spend more time with each other in the real world.
FThe first, thing I will do is discusstalk about the possible negative affects of
children using social media to get them out in the open and, then in the next paragraph I
will talk about how they should be handled and what can be done to fight against them.
There are negatives to social media use for children, and every one knows about them.
The first and most evident examples are online predators looking to lure children it is
believed that more than half a million pedophiles are online every day(Weber, Lisa).
This problem is evident in the show To Catch A Predator was about. For those who are
not familiar with the show is about a crew of people pretending to be a child to lure
young children to a house, with the adults looking for sexual relation with the children.
Comment [AP1]: This isnt need in a title
for a research paper.
Comment [AP2]: Media is plural for
medium. No need to make it more plural.
Comment [AP3]: What do you mean by
this? Your thesis seem to be pro social
media
Comment [AP4]: See how Ive edited what
youve said down to far fewer words?
Formatted: Font: Italic

Then when the adults come Chris Hansen confronts them to talk to them, each segment
end with the predator getting arrested. The next area where social media can be harmful
to children is through cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is when some one is bullied online
through the computer. Cyber bullying can harm a child emotionally and hard their self-
esteem. Where as before the Internet, if a child was were bullied, they could go home and
get away from it all, now a days if they can even be bullied in the comforts of their own
home. Other people have also raised the question if children using the Internet and social
medias will expose them at a younger age to sex and drugs, which will make them, want
to experiment with sex and drugs may be unduly influenced by Web sites promoting
drugs or sex(McBride, DL). I disagree with this statement, since just because a child is
exposed to something does not mean they will do it, and children now a days are already
exposed to sex and drugs with television, so what difference would the internet make?.
In this paragraph I will discuss what should be done to prevent these problems
that I discussed in the last paragraph. The solutions to these problems are simple, and it is
better parenting. A parent should be involved in a childs life, and be aware of what they
are doing. So why should this be any different with them using the computer and
different social medias (Padilla-Walker, Laura M). In order for a child to be able to
experience and take advantage of the great social and education educational value that the
Internet is their parents should first explain and educate their child on what they can and
can not do on the internet, and to warn them about the dangers that can be found there.
But the parenting should not stop there, parents have a lot of tools at their disposal to help
them keep their children safe, such as blockers, and filters. But parents should not solely
rely on those additions to protect their child. They should also monitor what they do on
Comment [AP5]: Something is odd with
your sentence structure here. try reading it
aloud.
Comment [AP6]: The conditional
subjunctive tense.
Comment [AP7]: This phrasing is comical,
not sure if thats your intention.
Comment [AP8]: This is not needed here,
especially since youve already prefaced in
the previous paragraph. You arent trying to
needlessly occupy page space are you?
Comment [AP9]: Wait, which words are
yours and which are theirs? I need you to
make this abundantly clear.
Comment [AP10]: This also is a very
strange sentence that Im having trouble
following.
the Internet. When it comes down to it while all of the problems with social media wont
be solved by parents taking an interest in their childs life and educating and protecting
them, it will solve most of the problems. With good parenting children will be able to
take advantage of all of the benefits that are unique to the Internet that I will explain later
on in the paper.
The first benefit that I will bring up involving social media is it allows children to
communicate with other children their own age from around the world. The Internet is
the first and only thing that lets children interact with others fast and easily. There is
nothing else that will allow them to do this, which will let them learn about other
countries and cultures first hand through the people who actually live there (STROM,
PARIS, and ROBERT STROM). Children talking to people from that foreign country,
will give them a better perspective of what it is like for other people from all over the
world, better than a book or a teacher ever could. Todays children are the first generation
who will have the opportunity to grow up with this technology, and being able to
communicate with others their own age will give them a better understanding of what is
going on in the world, and what other people from other areas have to deal with on a
daily basis.
Social medias also allows children to communicate with their peers that they
know from school and other places. Having the opportunity to be able to easily
communicate with each other they can share their different viewpoints and ideas all from
the comfort of their own home, it also allows them to maintain contact and conversation
from school at home. Social media also allows children to keep in touch with their friends
such as when they move, so even in their new town or state they will still not feel alone
Comment [AP11]: Yeah, but in what
context? Do children really go after these
things or are you talking about at school?
Comment [AP12]: Theres that phrase
again.

since they can still communicate with all of their old friends (STROM, PARIS, and
ROBERT STROM). I have lived in five different states so far in my life, so I can attest to
the fact that social media makes it not just easier but it makes it possible to keep up with
old friends. If it were not for websites like Facebook, I do not feel I would be able to
maintain my friendships with so many people whole I have not seen in many years with
out its aide.
I think that social media is very beneficial for children, because they use it not to
replace real life, but to help enhance it. Unlike older people who use social media mainly
for keeping up with friends and family who are far away from them and mainly looking
at pictures of those who they do not see every day, younger people use social media to
talk to their friends from school and other places, and to help them arrange locations and
times to actually see each other (Hilsen, Anne, and Tove Helvik). I can also attest to this
being true with my own experiences, with moving so many times, and having friends in
so many different places, I will sometimes find my self in the different states I have
formerly lived in. While I am in my old towns, I will message some of my old friends and
I will be able to see them again and hang out with them. With out social media their
would be no way for that to be possible, between all of the times phone numbers change
and people move, it would be simply impossible to keep in touch and organize places to
meet up with each other after not seeing each other for many years in some cases.
Social media has many benefits for children while they are growing up, and these
benefits will last them their entire lives. While there are negatives to it such as cyber
bullying, and online predators proper parenting, and education can prevent them. But
isnt their risks to most things children do any ways, and allowing children to use social
media out weighs the possible risks by and allowing children to experience all of the
benefits social media has to offer such as being able communicate with people from
different cultures, talk to their friend at home and not feel so alone, and arrange times and
places to actually see each other.


Work Cited

STROM, PARIS, and ROBERT STROM. "Growing Up With Social Networks And
Online Communities." Education Digest 78.1 (2012): 48-51. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

Padilla-Walker, Laura M., et al. "Parents And Adolescents Growing Up In The Digital
Age: Latent Growth Curve Analysis Of Proactive Media Monitoring." Journal Of
Adolescence 35.5 (2012): 1153-1165. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Feb.
2014.

Hilsen, Anne, and Tove Helvik. "The Construction Of Self In Social Medias, Such As
Facebook." AI & Society 29.1 (2014): 3-10. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23
Feb. 2014.

Weber, Lisa. "How Social Networks Affect Underage Kids." Everyday Life. Demand
Media, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.

McBride, DL. "Risks and Benefits of Social Media for Children and Adolescents."
Journal of Pediatric Nursing. 26.5 (2011): 498-9. Print.
Thomas,
I think you have written an interesting and worthwhile essay here. I really like the various
points of view that you discuss and how you make those voices salient and relevant to
Comment [AP13]: These dont need to be
in all caps
Formatted: Font: Italic
your discussion. You missing direct quote heavily in favor of paraphrasing, and I am
having difficulty discerning whose voice is whose. Your thesis is interesting, but you
seem to have dueling theses, which is a little confusing. On one hand this seems to be a
call to attention on the negative realities of the internet and technology, and then you
seem to shift into an argument about how great the internet and technology can be for the
youth. The latter seems to me the one you are most interested in (and for that matter, I am
too). I would like for you to take a harder stance. Choose one of these theses and really
argue hard for it. Also, check some of your phrasings here. Sometimes I had difficulty
following your thinking.