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Doctor: Social networking sites skew kids' world view; can be psychologically dangerous
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by PEP | July 4, 2008 at 03:20 am
511 views | 5 Recommendations | 1 comment
Will generations of kids raised with "online lives" have less grasp of reality and be at psychological risk? Some health professionals see real problems ahead.
Children growing up amid the rise of social networking Web sites may have a "potentially dangerous" view of the world, a leading psychiatrist in Britain has suggested.
Dr. Himanshu Tyagi said sites such as Facebook and MySpace could be harmful by contributing to an identity crisis among young people.
He told the Royal College of Psychiatrists' annual meeting yesterday that people with active online identities might place less value on their real lives. This could raise the risk of impulsive acts or even suicide, the West London Mental Health NHS Trust expert added.
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at 07:50 on July 4th, 2008
PEP, I like this story. It's good stuff. I think the doctor may be right to a degree but he's being rather alarmist about the consequences, and he doesn't seem to have done any peer reviewed studies, it's his more or less informed opinion probably based on some of his patients.
I found another source for the story that also adds:
"Tyagi's views are in contrast to a report released in June by Childnet, a U.K.-based organization that promotes Internet safety. Childnet advocated that teachers exploit the popularity of social networking websites to develop young people's ability to communicate and improve their technological skills."
I personally believe that the benefits of social networking on the internet far outweigh any potential downsides. Never before in human history has it been so easy to connect to so many people. There will be growing pains associated with the changes in thinking and society emerging as a result of this social saturation, but we have the benefit of realizing day by day just how alike we humans are.
One thing is for damn sure, we can't turn back the clock now, so we may as well ride the wave.