Earlier, kids used to grow up by playing out in the parks, but in the 21st century, even kids know how to use a phone, and due to online teaching, they have been exposed to social media.
Now, Instagram has decided to introduce a kid’s version of the app that is called Instagram Kids, which has caused some controversy over the issue of mental health of teen girls.
As per the reports, on Thursday, the Global Head of Safety of Facebook, Mr. Antigone Davis, will appear before the US Senate Commerce Subcommittee to protect the kids from the mental harm from the Instagram Kids.
Many do not even think how mental health is related to social media, but according to the research of Facebook, Instagram creates negative effects, and especially in the case of teenage girls, the app will contribute to the worsening body image issue. The app has hands-on worsening the body image issue for one in three girls, and also many hold Instagram responsible for the anxiety and depression.
Meanwhile, the majority of the users feel unattractive, and that feeling started on Instagram; also, according to reports, many teens who use Instagram have developed suicidal thoughts. Although Facebook claims Instagram helps users when they are struggling with something, the ones dealing with sadness, loneliness, and some other issues do get some kind of support from social media, and the app has made them feel better.
In one post, the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, said that the company believes that making a social media app for kids is the right thing to do, but for now, they are pausing all the works related to work and wants to use this time into work with the parents and policymakers to make them aware about the value and the need of the app. After that, they will start the process of developing the app with parental tools.
The Instagram Kids app will require the permission of the parents to join the platform and targets mostly the kids aged between 10 to 12 years. This app is supposed to be for kids younger than 13 years because rather than misjudging the kids’ age, the company believes in developing the app for that group, so they can easily access it. Also, they will have no reason to download the app tailored to teens. The app will consist of age-appropriate content and will not contain any advertisements. Parents can easily supervise their children’s time on the app and will have access to the followers and following features.
Some health agencies pointed out that Instagram had once shown the advertisement of a weight-gaining drug, and many influencers also promoted that drug. That drug has very serious side effects that can even result in liver failure. After this, Instagram took down the advertisement of that drug. This is not a singular instance and happens quite frequently. Not only one drug or product, but one can also find many other products which are either fake or are dangerous to health.
According to the reports, social media has increased the chances of anxiety and depressions. If we talk about the issues related to body image, the problem is not limited to teenage girls but also adult women who face the same issue on Instagram. Instagram is still trying to sort some issues, but we can say that Instagram is the place where everyone tries to maintain their images. For the teenagers who are already struggling with so many things, they now have to live with the bar of maintaining a social media image which makes it harder for them.
