The Social Life of the App Addicted Teen

This is a really impressive blog and infographic on teens being addicted to social media. Practical and insightful.

The Social Life of the App Addicted Teen

Do you remember the popular song from the late ‘80’s called, Parents Just Don’t Understand by the Fresh Prince, or as he is known today, Will Smith?

Even though the song is about 30 years old, it still rings true today. Now that we are the parents, we want to think we understand our teens and what they are going through on a daily basis. Afterall, we were once in their same shoes and awkward teen phases. Our kids still struggle with breakouts, crushes, cracking voices, and peer pressure. However, the way they socially interact has changed immensely and now primarily occurs over cellphones and technology devices.

Our children are the first generation to be raised in a digitally rich environment and can’t recall a time before cellphones or the Internet. Anyone who lives with a teenager or tween today doesn’t need a study to know our kids are highly connected and spend a majority of their time online swiping and clicking away the hours. To backup our claims, a recent report from CNN found that teens spend an average of 9 hours consuming media in some form on a daily basis.

Social media and apps are now a driving force in our child’s life, which can promote authentic communication. However, they can also lead to some dangerous side effects. To help us gain a better understanding of the pressures and social life of our digital natives, it’s important to step back and take a glimpse inside a teen’s day to see how social media and apps are truly affecting our kids. For more details about the social life of today’s teens, please scroll through the following infographic from the tech savvy minds at TeenSafe: