A STUDY ON SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF CHILDREN’S SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE

AUTHOR – DINA R K, STUDENT AT SAVEETHA SCHOOL OF LAW, SAVEETHA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL AND TECHNICAL SCIENCE(SIMATS), CHENNAI

BEST CITATION – DINA R K, A STUDY ON SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF CHILDREN’S SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 5 (8) OF 2025, PG. 1075-1089, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344

ABSTRACT:

In recent years, social media has become an integral part of our lives, extending even to children. From the beginning of  COVID-19 pandemic saw a rapid increase in media device usage and Internet access. Adolescents often connected to the Internet independently, primarily using platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Accordingly, a 2021 CENSIS report revealed a further increase in smartphone use by adolescents, reaching 95%. In particular, the majority of adolescents (59%) admitted they use smartphones even more frequently than in the past, with daily use exceeding 3 hours in 46% of cases. Adolescents accessed the Internet alone (59%), consulting social media, mostly Instagram (72%), TikTok (62%), and YouTube (58%). The major objectives are To examine the effects of social media usage on children’s self-esteem and mental health, To analyse how social media influences children’s behaviour and social interactions, To identify the potential risks and benefits associated with children’s social media activities. The research method followed is empirical research. The data is collected through a questionnaire and a sample size is 202. Convenience sampling method is adopted in the study to collect the data. The samples were collected from the general public with special reference to the Chennai region. This review aims to highlight the risks associated with social media use among children and adolescents, identifying early indicators of emerging problems and proposing preventive measures. Public and medical awareness must rise over this topic and new prevention measures must be found, starting with health practitioners, caregivers, and websites/application developers. Pediatricians should be aware of the risks associated with a problematic social media use for the young’s health and identify sentinel signs in children as well as prevent negative outcomes in accordance with the family.

KEYWORDS: Social media, Children, Addiction, Mental health, Social interactions.