The risk of isolation in young people, especially disabled young people, is on the rise for different reasons that I am going to mention today.
From a young age, I attended different clubs like boat club and did loads of activities such as disabled trampolining.
I absolutely loved it because I was quite lonely as a child due to my disability and this certainly helped me.
When I became 19, I was shocked to discover that all these clubs and activities stopped at that age and that the only choice that I had to socialise was attending a center for pensioners!
You can imagine how this lack of opportunities made me feel… Completely isolated and without a way of making new friends.
But, you know what? Nowadays, I find very ironic that young people who do not have any disabilities can feel or are feeling the same way as I am but for a very different reason… Social media.
Tablets, smartphones, computers and an endless amount of apps (Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube…) are isolating young people from reality. We have a generation of youngsters looking down at their phones rather than looking up to another human being’s face.
It is becoming an addiction and these apps can have a great impact on their vulnerable self-esteem at that age.
What I have learnt now, in my early twenties is that the image that teens project on social media is not real. That constant happiness does not exist. And seeing these fake perfect lives in your feed can make you question the way that you are living your own life.
Having said that, not everything is so catastrophic and there are, of course, many benefits from using social media too.
It is a free communication tool that helps everybody feel connected regardless where they are in the world. Isn’t this brilliant? It has also helped me to stay in touch with old friends that I had lost touch with. It also makes you feel close to everyone that you follow. But careful! Let’s not forget to still call our friends and chat with them face to face!
I feel that parents need to be very cautious about the exposure that their children, especially teenagers, have to social media.
Remember that it is meant to be used from 13 years old, not earlier. They need to also make sure that their children use their mobile or laptops at home in a common space, not in their bedrooms and to always limit the time they use them for.
We all need to keep getting out and about and keep in mind how amazing it is to meet people that you care about face to face!