TEENS AND THE INTERNET The exciting, scary and reassuring news about social media and internet use

Agenda  Who am I?  What are teen’s doing?  Does social media help or hurt?  What can you do to help?

The Tasks of Teens  Becoming Independent  Developing Mastery  Establishing an identity  Understanding consequences  Learning Self-regulation

The Brain of the Teen  Yes, there is one  Emotional brain  Reasoning brain Teenage brain Adult brain Where the action is

Frontal Lobe Function  Frontal Lobe the CEO of the Brain  Anticipation  Planning  Goal-directed behavior  Strategizing  Organizing  Initiating, stopping, starting and shifting attention

How does the internet fit in?  Anxiety  Depression  Addiction  Social learning

The Internet  It’s everywhere  Neither you nor your children can escape the impact of technology on our culture  TV, Radio, Movies, Telephone worked the same way for earlier generations  What is social media?  Any medium through which two or more people interact  , IM, texts, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Social Media and Tasks of Teen  Independence  Mastery  Identity  Understanding consequences  Self-regulation

Social Media and Anxiety  Correlation between anxiety and FaceBook  People who check social media every 15 minutes or more have higher anxiety levels  For some teens social media can also help anxiety if used appropriately

 Worry or dread  Obsessive or intrusive thoughts  Sense of imminent danger or catastrophe  Fear or panic  Restlessness  Irritability  Impatience  Ambivalence  Trouble concentrating Anxiety: Psychological Symptoms

Anxiety: Physical Symptoms  Flushing or blushing  Sweating, especially the palms  Lightheadedness or faintness  Nausea or vomiting  Feeling of "butterflies" in the stomach  Nail biting or other habitual behavior  Shortness of breath  Difficulty sleeping  Choking sensation  Frequent urination  Diarrhea  Constipation  Dry mouth  Muscle tension  Rapid or irregular heartbeat

Social Media and Tasks of Teen  Independence  Mastery  Identity  Understanding consequences  Self-regulation

Social Media and Depression  Social media such as Facebook and MySpace can have a positive impact on Depression  Social Media allows otherwise physically isolated people to communicate with friends  Social media is often used as a way to make plans  Virtually all teens would rather spend face time with their friends than be online with them  Lack of exercise and poor diet DO amplify depression

Depression  constant feelings of sadness, irritability, or tension  decreased interest or pleasure in usual activities or hobbies  loss of energy, feeling tired despite lack of activity  a change in appetite, with significant weight loss or weight gain  change in sleeping patterns, ex. difficulty sleeping, early morning awakening or sleeping too much  restlessness or feeling slowed down  decreased ability to make decisions or concentrate  feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, or guilt  thoughts of suicide or death

What’s a parent to do?  The ground work has been laid  Influence  Computer culture vs. life knowledge  Connection  Have faith in yourself, your children and the years you have already put into them

The Tasks of Teens  Independence  Mastery  Establishing an identity  Understanding consequences  Self-regulation

The Tasks of Parents  Listen and then listen some more  Independence, mastery and identity  Recognize and reflect on consequences  Self-regulation  Your example  Setting limits

Parent’s Tasks  Listen  Limits for a reason  Enforcing consequences  Addiction  Bullying  Exercise  Downtime  Be an example  Helping them learn from their mistakes  Help think something through without providing answers right away

We’re Anxious Too  Our teens are appropriately anxious about their place in the world  We are appropriately anxious about how our teens negotiate this life stage  Let’s not forget to bring our reason to bear

Questions  Center for Family Therapy  Jenny Putnam, LICSW The more technical and more advanced the science becomes, often the more it leads us back to some very basic tenets of spending loving, quality time with our children. --Jay Geidd, neuroscientist