Advertisement

Facebook 'anxiety' for children in care: report

The Local Norway
The Local Norway - [email protected]
Facebook 'anxiety' for children in care: report
JaysonPhotography / Shutterstock.com"

Facebook and other social media sites are creating new forms of anxiety for children who have been taken into social care, as their parents openly discuss alcohol, drug use and other problems online, a new report by Norway's Nova think tank has revealed.

Advertisement

"Many parents are friends with their kids on Facebook, and then write things on their page that they do not consider that their children are reading," Nova researcher Hilde Aamodt told Norway's VG newspaper. "Children can be very involved in the bad periods of the parents." 
 
The study, Child Welfare and Social Media, adds that parents often posted sensitive details on ongoing child welfare cases on public sites, further harming the children and putting their privacy at risk. 
 
On the plus side, the study notes that social media can help parents and children stay up to date on each other's lives, making visits work better, enabling children to stay up to date with their brothers and sisters, and comforting children when their parents are doing well.  

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also