Snapping a flawless photo is what everyone is striving for nowadays. Be it tweens, teens or adults, they are equally enthusiastic about creating a perfect image of themselves—an image so good that it could be taken to the Instagram or other social media platforms.
Pictures are not worth a thousand words, not any more. We are living in a world of social media where photos are valued on the basis of the likes, comments or shares that they receive. And if you are lucky enough, your selfie can also achieve a viral recognition, thus taking your obsession of posting on social media even a few notches up.
Our kids have grown with social media, so whatever they do online, it comes very naturally to them. it’s a normality for them to hold on their cell phone for selfies and photos every day; they have that ever-present allure of taking their photos at any time and place that they found appeasing. They are obsessed with taking photos of everything, including their food, wardrobe changes and especially of their outing. They know their perfect poses and angles, because that’s what they have mastered after dozens of selfies that they take regularly.
It’s fun to capture moments of the perfect hair day. Then, a flattering selfie leads to a boost in a person’s self confidence. And when it’s coupled with some praise and glowing feedback in the form of likes, Facebook reactions and comments, then it’s perceived as an achievement, something much bigger and better than even acing the exams.
But there are unfortunate negative side effects of taking selfies too, but because we are so obsessed with taking selfies, we hardly care about the repercussions. We know that not all selfies are about flowing feedback and happy notifications. Awful and cruel commentary isn’t something that’s new within the social media spectrum. Vicious commentary is inevitable when we won’t weigh up the risks associated with our posting of photos online.
Selfies addiction is something real, and it has its destructive spillovers. In an article by CBS in Atlanta, a man obsessed with snapping his perfect picture ended up taking his life when he wasn’t able to take the perfect shot even after spending half of his day on taking selfies.
Selfies are a great way to create memories, but only if they don’t turn into an obsession. And if parents see any signs that their kids could be addicted to selfies, there is a dire need to shut down their selfie snapping habit. If you are a parent with no clue what to look for in a child, here are the five self addiction signs to look for in your child:
- Your kids are mismanaging their time
If your kids prefer to spend their time taking selfies over completing their homework or to perform daily house chores, then it’s pertinent that your child needs a privacy break. This is something that every parent should do in effect after reading this because once your child goes too far with their selfies obsession, it’s difficult bringing them back.
- They have a poor self-esteem
An article published in the UK’s Daily Star discussed how individuals with low self-esteem have a habit of taking selfies. More than half of the reported selfie snappers had an issue of self esteem. Taking photos and posting them online is fun, only if they aren’t taken too seriously. However, that’s not what our kids do, and they rather turn to a race where everyone is competing to pose a brilliant and exciting selfie. If your child is going to link their values with online approval and commentary of others, sharing selfies online could bring them a lot of trouble and self-esteem crash.
- Your kids get obsessed about their appearance
Because of frequent selfies taken, kids become conscious of how admirable they look in their selfies. Taking pride in their appearance is a visible trait amongst selfie-obsessed individuals, but this narcissism about one’s own appearance is quite a problem. Teens can spend hours on preparing the perfect hair or makeup to achieve a flawless appearance. Yes, it’s true that kids do spend hours taking selfies, but it’s not something that they should be doing. They need to know that it’s a little hard to get that perfect appearance sometimes; in fact, it’s something that they should not try to achieve intentionally, ever.
Parents need to be careful with presenting their opinions about body image, weight, etc. in front of their kids. They need to constantly remind their kids that it’s not all right to have obsessive fixation for grooming and body image.
According to Psychology Today, individuals who are obsessed with taking frequent selfies perfectly fit into the profile of psychological diagnosis related to narcissism. The study revealed that individuals with narcissistic tendencies are more likely to do that extra effort to come out best in their photos.
- Changes in personality
If your child is showing signs of alienation or seclusion, or if your child looks depressed, it could because they are posting too many selfies online. Teens who are constantly uploading their photos online are more prone to others’ scrutiny and mean words, so cyberbullying is another issue associated with individuals who have a habit of taking selfies. It could be emotionally crushing for the kids to have criticism on photos that they captured after hours of obsessive hard work. If your child is an avid selfie-snapper, and if they are showing showing sudden symptoms of depression, it’s important to have conversation with them.
- A large library of selfies
The most obvious symptom that your child could be obsessed to taking selfies is their photo gallery with hundreds or even thousands of selfies. If you don’t know how to keep tabs on your kids’ photo gallery, start using Trackmyfone to monitor multimedia activity off your kids’ cell phones and tablets.
The addiction of selfies is strange but understandable. Everyone wants to look great and have approval of others. But when kids start sharing hundreds of photos online, it naturally calls for a lot of feedback that could come in the form of criticism too. The photos shared online could either go viral in positive terms or end up on bad terms.
It’s parents’ responsibility to bring positivity back into their kids’ lives, and if that requires giving them a technology break, help them have one.
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