According to research, social media is increasingly affecting even pre-teens. Many ten-year-olds may be missing out on the equivalent of a night’s sleep per week because of their extensive usage of multiple platforms, the report claims. Approximately 70% of the research participants’ youngsters reported spending four hours a day on average. Of the four, two hours were primarily in the hour before bed.
According to The Times UK, 13% of them acknowledged checking their phone regularly ‘in the middle of the night or after I should be asleep’. TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat were where they spend most of their time. Overall, the study found that the majority of these children did not obtain enough sleep. Many people can be missing out on eight to nine hours of sleep every week, according to researchers.
Additionally, the blue light generated by mobile phones and other devices is known to interfere with our sleep cycles by affecting the circadian rhythm of the body. People who use their phones for a while an hour or two before night have a harder problem falling asleep. Social media and anxiety were shown to be related in the study.
When you consider the amount of participation, it is rather frightful, according to Dr. John Shaw, the project manager from Leicester’s De Montfort University. Despite the fact that the pilot study only included 60 kids, experts think it is the first of its type to examine in-depth how pre-teens’ emotions and sleep may be impacted by apps like TikTok and Instagram.
One of the main motivations for using social media among 10-year-olds was discovered to be FOMO, or the fear of missing out. Social media was available to all of the study’s youth participants. According to Shaw, primary school students should obtain between 9 and 11 hours of sleep per night. Only two of the study’s young subjects got the minimum quantity advised. He said that they aren’t getting enough sleep as a result of their usage of social media.
In order to compare the sleeping habits of the two groups, the researchers are currently looking for children who do not use social media as frequently. We’re having a hard time tracking down children who are not using social media. It’s crucial to set sleep schedules, he continued. I put my phone away one hour before I go to sleep. I have a blue-light filter if I must ride it. Shaw urged parents to provide a good example for their children to follow. ‘Telling (a youngster) to put down their phone is fine and acceptable. However, if the parent is talking to you while using their phone or social media, they won’t pay attention’.
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