As the rise of social media platforms, more and more people realize the children are now being exposed to social media. The problematic social media use among the younger generation is even perceived as a problem. There are several reasons why children seek asylum from social media (Pazdur et al., 2025):
Why Children Turn to Social Media
Social relationships are among the most consistently identified risk factors for problematic media use. Children may struggle to connect with peers in person due to shyness, social anxiety, bullying, or simply not fitting in. Thus, they may turn to online environments as a substitute. Games, social platforms, and online communities offer a sense of belonging that feels more accessible and less threatening than face-to-face interaction. These platforms also provide a shared context for communication, particularly for children with niche interests who cannot easily find peers in their immediate surroundings, and social media can be their only peer support.
Social comparison — a behavior of comparing one's own achievements to others online to boost self-esteem — presents a related challenge. When children observe peers receiving likes, followers, and public praise online, they are drawn into the process of measuring their own worth against others. The validation that comes from social media recognition can become a substitute for the acknowledgement they may not be receiving in real life, reinforcing the habit of seeking it online.
Fear of missing out has become one of the defining features of adolescent digital life. Children's social worlds now cover wider than our generation across group chats, trending content, and shared online events. Stopping using a device risks falling behind on the conversations and moments that matter to their peers. For many children, the pressure to stay current is a requirement to maintain their social belonging, making healthy limits on screen time feel genuinely costly.
The Role of Guardians
The big-tech may claim ignorance when children use their platform, but there are things for legal guardians to do. Many guardians arrive home depleted, with little left to give after a full day of work, and in those moments, handing a child a device is probably the best or only option. It is worth recognizing this before rushing to place blame.
Wang & Chen's article (2022) gives a basic idea of where to start. Ideally, children and parents shall both be open-minded and encourage each other to learn. The explanatory power, parents' attitudes toward social media, frequency of online activity participation, proficiency in skills, and other factors jointly play a role in managing social media use. The authors argue that building a harmonized online family environment can help with the concern.
I encountered significant struggles when writing this article due to methodology difficulties and inconsistent inclusion criterias, but I believe that fulfilling the children's needs is important. The sense of acknowledgment and being able to freely make friends will strongly impact one's childhood, and finding supportive friendships and parenthood matters, and when they become adults, they can heal from the childhood instead of healing the childhood. Undeniably, social media will become one of their childhood because it is how children maintain their relationships, but how to make the best use of them is a topic worth discussion.
Conclusion
Problematic social media use among children is not the result of any single cause, nor is it anyone's sole responsibility to address. When guardians and children approach media together with openness and mutual learning, and when the home environment is built on trust rather than restriction alone, healthier media habits become genuinely achievable. The goal is not to eliminate social media from children's lives, but to ensure they have the awareness, support, and skills to navigate it without being consumed by it.
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Pazdur, M., Tutus, D., & Haag, A.-C. (2025). Risk Factors for Problematic Social Media Use in Youth: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies. Adolescent Research Review, 10(2), 237–253. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-025-00264-4
Wang, B., & Chen, J. (2022). Parental intervention strategies and operating mechanism on adolescent social media use—The concept of literacy improvement based on interaction. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1043850. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1043850
Written by
Yiming Zhu
Therapist
As a counseling psychology graduate student and mental health professional, I provide human-centered approach to supporting individuals navigating trauma, addiction, career transitions, and life's challenging moments. With a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Yorkville University, a Graduate Certificate in Addiction Treatment from Georgian College, and dual bachelor's degrees in psychology and biology from Macalester College, my practice is grounded in both scientific understanding and compassionate care. I have worked across community mental health, career counseling, and peer support settings. Book Yiming on Purple Lotus
