According to a presentation at the 119th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, there are definite pros and cons to children's use of social media.
In his talk, "Poke Me: How Social Networks Can Both Help and Harm Our Kids," Larry D. Rosen, PhD, professor of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills, claimed that parents who secretly try to monitor their kids' activities online are "wasting their time".
The adverse effects of social media sites included:
narcissistic tendencies and antisocial or aggressive behaviours
anxiety, depression, and other psychological disorders
learning deficiencies, leading to lower grades
Positive influences linked to social networking included:
"virtual empathy"
assisted socializing for introverts
alternative teaching methods.
Rosen offered the following guidance to parents: "You have to start talking about appropriate technology use early and often and build trust, so that when there is a problem, whether it is being bullied or seeing a disturbing image, your child will talk to you about it."
In addition to monitoring child's activities on social networking sites on a daily basis, parents are urged to pay attention to online trends and latest applications. Where necessary, parents should advise their children to remove "inappropriate content or connections to people who appear problematic".
"Communication is the crux of parenting. You need to talk to your kids, or rather, listen to them," Rosen said. "The ratio of parent listen to parent talk should be at least five-to-one. Talk one minute and listen for five."
Clearly, social media in all its forms is here to stay. But do the pros outweigh the cons where children are concerned? Is Rosen's advice to parents pragmatic?
Imagine it. You've just celebrated one of the happiest moments of your life, marrying your soul mate. You're on honeymoon in one of the most stunning beaches in the world, when your husband is suddenly attacked by a shark.
Just 10m off the idyllic Anse Lazio beach in the Seychelles -- an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean -- 30-year-old Brit, Ian Redmond, was snorkelling when a 2m 'rogue' shark attacked him. It's thought the shark had been stalking the area.
A French diver was also killed less than two weeks ago -- the first such death in the region for almost 50 years.
Gemma Houghton, Redmond's 27-year-old wife, watched helpless from the shore where she'd been sunbathing while her husband screamed for help.
Although some holidaymakers rushed to him in an inflatable dinghy, it was too late. Redmond was taken to hospital by helicopter, but had already lost too much blood.
"I saw the swimmer who was missing a huge chunk of flesh from his left leg, so much so that I could see the bone of his thigh," a tourist told the Telegraph. "He was sickeningly pale, but still had his flippers on both feet."
It was the last week of the couple's honeymoon. They were due to fly back to England after the weekend.
Until the shark problem has been dealt with, surrounding beaches have been closed and swimming banned.
The Seychelles is a popular and romantic tourist destination for Brits, with an estimated 19,000 visiting each year, including honeymooning Prince William and Duchess Kate earlier this year.
Once upon a time I snorkelled off a boat in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia -- a continent that is no stranger to shark attacks. But of course, that was before I watched the uncannily realistic movie, Open Water, in which a couple gets stranded after a diving excursion.
I can't begin to imagine a more terrifying or heartbreaking scene. Losing the person you love most right when you're about to start a life together...
Would this story make you think twice about diving or snorkelling while on holiday?
In the largest ever investigation of autism and sibling recurrence, a study revealed an increased risk that an infant with an older autistic sibling will also develop the disorder.
The study, which will be published in Pediatrics next month, found that at 19 per cent, the risk of recurrence was higher than previously thought -- at between 3 and 10 per cent.
It's estimated that the likelihood for boys is even higher, at over 26 per cent, and over 32 percent for infants with more than one older autistic sibling. For reasons that are still unknown, autism affects more boys than girls (about 80 per cent of all autistic children are males).
A complex disorder that affects a child’s ability to think, communicate, interact socially and learn, autism spectrum disorders (ASD) affects about 1 in 110 children born in the US.
Though there has always been strong evidence that genetic factors play a critical role in the development of autism, it wasn't clear just how much of a role until now.
The implications of the study could lead to more genetic counselling for parents and for referral to early intervention for the infant siblings of children with autism.
“Parents often ask what their risk of having another child with ASD is and, until now, we were really not sure of the answer,” said Sally Ozonoff, the study’s lead author and a professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the University of California, Davis.
The study, which included 664 subjects from the United States and Canada, followed the infants' development until 36 months, when they were tested for autism using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), an autism diagnostic tool, and the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, which "measures nonverbal cognitive, language, and motor skills".
Autism Speaks Chief Science Officer, Geraldine Dawson, stressed the importance of primary care professionals monitoring children’s development closely. Siblings, in particular, need screening "so that they can be offered intervention as early as possible. Early intervention ensures the best possible outcomes.”
Given the high incidence of recurrence, would you consider having another child if you had an autistic son or daughter?
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