Getting social media at a young age has become a big part of many peoples’ lives. An eight year old that I babysit already has all the social media apps on her cell phone. One of the reasons she has social media is to be more aware of things that are happening and to catch up with trends. I personally have seen a difference with her self awareness since she got these apps. What’s upsetting, however, is that her parents allow her to have apps that have an age restriction of thirteen while she is only eight. Many apps have these age limits set in place for safety and privacy reasons. With kids getting social media so young it can affect their mindset on certain things which creates concerns about social media. There are some benefits to social media though. With there being concerns about social media and how it affects kids, it has many parents wondering when their child should get social media.   

The age that kids get social media can affect a lot. According to the Digital dangers written on February 28 2022 by Liberty Champion the official newspaper of Liberty University “Parents should not allow their kids to get social media until after the age of thirteen, at the very least.” Getting social media at thirteen years old is recommended  because that's the age when kids' brains are more ready to be exposed to certain things. When younger kids get social media they are more prone to participating in the dangerous challenges, because they aren't aware of the dangers. Many of the kids that are being harmed by participating in the social media challenges are kids under thirteen. Many kids are being exposed to things that aren't quite good for their mindset. 

A kid's mindset can be influenced very quickly by being exposed to social media at a young age and not quite understanding everything out there which can be bad. Because of this, a kid could be affected, good or bad. Being that a kid's mindset can be affected so easily means that one video could change how they think without them knowing any better to continue to research the topic. Since they will really believe anything, many kids just think that everything they see is true and not everything out on the internet is true. The mindset a kid has can affect how they act in school and how well they perform in sports. Helpguide.org Social media and Mental health written on March 2, 2023 says “Everyone is different and there is no specific amount of time spent on social media, or the frequency you check for updates, or the number of posts you make that indicates your use is becoming unhealthy. Rather, it has to do with the impact time spent on social media has on your mood and other aspects of your life, along with your motivations for using it.” This is saying that depending on how much time kids are spending on social media it can affect their mood. Your mood affects how you think about things. Being that social media has an affect on your mind set there are benefits and concerns about social media.

One of the main concerns over social media is what kids are being exposed to. Social media doesn't really have any restrictions on the apps. Social media apps have some guidelines but there are still many things that parents don't want their kids to be exposed to. Being that