Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to argue for the harm Snapchat causes to school-aged children. Although there are opposing arguments, Snapchat should be banned for schoolchildren due to its potential harm from inappropriate content and behaviour, distraction and addiction and privacy concerns. Online Networks and Social Change is the stream that I have picked to go along with my conference paper topic. The fundamental concepts discussed in the paper are inappropriate content, cyberbullying, a distraction from learning and lack of parental control. This paper argues the impact schoolchildren undergo from unsuitable content and behaviour, which leads to being addicted and distracted, neglecting schoolwork, and concludes by stating the privacy issues of engaging in Snapchat with youngsters.

Introduction

Social Networking Sites (SNS) such as Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok are growing immensely due to technological advances. Schoolchildren are at a developmental stage, where they are immature as they are still starting to understand society and everything else around them. A child without a phone can hardly be seen nowadays as they are experimenting with what their peers do; it’s a trend to get a hold of the newest available device as technology revolves around it. Out of these social media platforms, Snapchat must review its implications and features as it does not support all age groups. According to many researchers and drawing from their accounts it is sensible to state that a school child and a phone do not pair well together as they can easily corrupt a young mindset. The main concern here is that Snapchat is widely used among schoolchildren. Therefore, this app needs to be banned for them so it could potentially help mitigate many issues evolved around it and create a safer and more focused carefree learning environment for youngsters. This paper fits well with the stream ‘Online Networks and Social Change’ as it is based on schoolchildren using the online social media platform Snapchat. Communication as a network online through Snapchat is creating an Online Network and the argument this paper brings up is of a social change to reform society by forbidding kids from using the app for their protection and welfare. This conference paper outlines the connection between online networks and Snapchat among schoolchildren and provides a broad overview of why Snapchat needs to be banned for young people. The paper concludes by summarising the main points discussed, addressing the limitations, and mentioning areas favourable for further research. Although there are opposing arguments, Snapchat should be outlawed for schoolchildren due to its potential harm from inappropriate content and behaviour, distraction, addiction, and privacy concerns.

Brief Overview about Snapchat

    Snapchat is one of the fast-moving social media platforms across all age groups, and it is also a unique app compared to the rest because the content shared is typically deleted within 24 hours. Vaterlaus (2016) states that, “Snapchat is a social media platform that allows users to send images, videos, and text with a specified amount of time for the receiver(s) to view the content before it becomes permanently inaccessible to the receiver” (para.1). The biggest risk of using this app by children is stated from the above quoted; the time-limited content (photos, videos, and text) sharing. The tendency of a child to be exposed to and share inappropriate content is high, as is its association with unwanted troubles, such as if the receiver captures a screenshot that can later be used for threatening. This app is top-rated because of its conveniently comfortable appearance and its real-time photo-video-sharing moments. Snapchat features messaging functions and augmented reality aspects such as filters and lenses. According to Burnell, “Snapchat lenses more closely conform to feminine expectations of beauty (e.g. enlarging eyes), they nonetheless have appearance-enhancing effects that may be attractive to all users (e.g. removing blemishes)” (2021, para. 46). Snapchat has gained immense popularity nowadays among young people, mainly schoolchildren therefore, the young girls and boys could understand the standard beauty standards much differently by using these filters and lenses daily. A significant increase in body image problems is associated with Snapchat lenses, therefore the use of lenses and filters destroys the original meaning behind beauty (Burnell, 2021). This could lead to schoolchildren having a different idea of how and what true beauty is, which could make young minds feel ashamed of their bodily image if it does not meet the ideal beauty standards they accept. Online networks like Snapchat can keep children connected as they would be interested in staying in contact with their friends and seeing what their peers are up to outside school hours. To use Snapchat, the user needs to be at least 13 years of age, but anyone can enter a false age to access the app. The age limitation is available for a reason, as there is a concern about the negative impacts of using this app, especially among schoolchildren. I believe that this age limit should be increased to 18 years and that it should be outlawed for schoolchildren as it can easily corrupt a young person’s mindset. There are many possibilities of how Snapchat could easily corrupt especially by its frequent release of inappropriate content, which results in children misbehaving while using the app; therefore the best way to protect the future of schoolchildren is by removing access to this platform.

Inappropriate Content & Behaviour 

    Inappropriate content can be deliberately exposed to schoolchildren as no safety measures are put forward. Inappropriate content such as violent or graphic images, hate speech and other harmful or offensive material could cause long-lasting adverse effects on young mindsets and psychological harm such as suicide because students can share anything from the Snapchat feature of disappearing messages. This affects schoolchildren mentally a lot as they are still young and naïve, due to the lack of experience and they often get anxious to share details with an elderly person and ask for help so the best way to get away is by taking their lives away is the only thought that pops to their young mindsets. Schoolchildren are still at the stage of identifying and preparing themselves for future interactions with society therefore in a situation like this, they are unable to stay strong and overcome it on their own. The tendency of schoolchildren to misbehave on this platform is possible due to the lack of permanent records. Inappropriate behaviour, such as sexting and sending one’s body exposed images. In fact, “…there are informal reports that Snapchat may be frequently used for ‘sexting’ (the act of text messaging someone in the hopes of having a sexual encounter with them later…” (Piwek & Joinson, 2016, p.359). This leads to ‘Cyberbullying’, a commonly heard term in schools. The connection between sexting on Snapchat and Cyberbullying is because of the anonymity and the complex structure Snapchat features have. Just as much bullying is a major concern in schools, cyberbullying a form of virtually harassing and embarrassing a child using technology is a major concern. Snapchat is more prone to cyber-based sexual abuse which leads to cyberbullying. As Handyside & Ringrose explains, “…in the absence of a digital artefact such as an image, mediated memory plays a stronger role, thus there is even greater scope for rumour and speculation” (2017, p.354). Spreading rumours and sharing embarrassing or private content without permission is cyberbullying. Snapchat are grounds for cyberbullying as it can be done anonymously. This can be done by creating a fake account and pretending to be somebody whom they are not, and as young children don’t understand much about fake and real accounts they can easily get caught in such traps which results in long-term permanent effects mentally or even physically. According to Charteris & Gregory, “It is also possible to take screenshots of images using the operating system’s application-agnostic screenshot capabilities that enables the image to be viewed at leisure and potentially distributed to others” (2018, para.8). By these functions and features that are provided in this platform it causes schoolchildren to addict and distracts their young unmatured minds towards an avoidable position.

Distraction & Addiction

    Snapchat is a distraction and an addiction to young minds. Children find it hard to concentrate on their academic work when young, and on top of this, Snapchat is a leading cause. As Phua explains in the article (2017), “…personal nature of Snapchat, whereby users send photo or video “snaps” via their mobile devices and are able to receive immediate, personal replies from recipients” (p. 421). This generally results “in more problematic engagement in Snapchat use” (Rozgonjuk et al., 2020, p.6). Not only does it impact academic performance, but it also affects maintaining social relationships. In fact, “Young adults did perceive that Snapchat behaviors had an influence on their relationships with family, friends, and romantic partners” (Vaterlaus et al., 2016, p.599). When a child is addicted, especially to technology, their mental cognition development reduces. “Researchers have explored the relationship between individual differences and social networking, such as cognitive ability, the big-five personality traits openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, and cultural influences, demonstrating culturally-variable patterns of use and relationships between personality traits and patterns of SNS use” (Lemay et al., 2019, p.2263). Many case studies conducted upon this research have found many effects the use of social media platforms, in general, have on children, therefore it includes the use of Snapchat as well, by this we can understand the effects Snapchat could have on children from a health perspective. To minimize these risks by banning Snapchat children will be able to lead a physically and mentally healthy lifestyle. The strong urge that schoolchildren need to check their phones constantly is for two main reasons: one is due to the heavy stream of notifications they receive, and the second reason is the feeling of impatience to check on what the sender has sent as Snapchat notifications does not present a preview of the messages or images. The fear of missing out on live updates and social interactions is another factor that adds to addiction and distraction because, generally, everything will be deleted within a 24-hour time frame. Snapchat ‘Streaks’ is very popular among schoolchildren; this is a sequence of exchanging snaps from time to time to maintain the streak. “Additionally, users can obtain a “streak” by sending a video/photo on Snapchat to someone for a certain number of consecutive days, and the receiver has also sent a video/photo back to the individual on the same days” (Truelove et al., 2019, p.149). This feature built by Snapchat ensures that users frequently engage in the app, resulting in distraction addiction. Snapchat’s Addiction to Distraction in young minds raises concerns about this app’s privacy.

Privacy Concerns

    Snapchat’s privacy concerns are a high priority as these deal with many schoolchildren. According to Lemay (2017), “While many young people may have originally adopted dynamic (single play, temporary, anonymous, etc.) messaging apps for privacy reasons (Choi, 2016), many are now compelled to use it for many other reasons, not least that they have become an important mode of communication for this demographic” (p.269). Snapchat collects all personal data fed into its system to generate a personalised experience for every user, which helps target advertisements. By relying on the data collected from users’ browsing history, Snapchat can target various ads that might be harmful or influence young minds easily. Schoolchildren have no exposure to the real- world and don’t understand how dangerous it is to share their data with an unknown and unauthorised party as it results in data breaches, or even the child could be vulnerable to cyber threats. As they aren’t mature enough to experience dealing with different kinds of people, children believe everything they see online. It is precarious as it is hard to understand what goes on in their young, developing minds. According to Charteris (2016), “It is well documented that the social media can enable teens to ‘“stalk” one another by searching for highly visible, persistent data about people they find interesting” (p.216). Another form of cyberbullying is Cyberstalking which is a major privacy concern. Cyberstalking is very common in this app due to its feature of ‘Snap map’; from this, any Snapchat user can see another’s current location. Snapchat has no digital traces, only timestamps which adds an advantage to these notorious acts. The privacy concerns of Snapchat are not a gender-specific problem, but most stalkers target females. Therefore, schoolgirls should be more concerned about this issue than boys, but overall, I think the best way to overcome these issues is by simply banning the app for all school-aged children.

Conclusion

    In conclusion, Snapchat must be banned for school-aged children due to the dangers it can pose from offensive content and behaviour, its potential to distract and addict young minds and privacy issues despite the counterarguments. As a commonly used platform among school-aged children, the risks associated with it are gradually rising to cut off the positive effects that Snapchat can offer. Cyberbullying, sexually explicit content, and behaviour are common issues taking place on this platform, and as a result, young mindsets have psychological after-effects. Snapchat is designed in such a way that it promotes frequent checks on their phone; this causes schoolchildren to get distracted and addicted to the app, which leads to the neglect of their academic work and real-time social relationships status gradually decreasing. The privacy settings of this app are not enough to protect young users from falling into problems relating to their safety and well-being. Many areas are worth future research, such as the legal implications and challenges of enforcing a ban on Snapchat for school-aged children. A question I propose for further research is what other social media platforms are available to replace Snapchat and be suited for schoolchildren and how does that platform regulate in terms of privacy and safety in comparison with Snapchat. In acknowledging the limitations, it took much work to find data reliable, especially regarding cyberbullying incidents related to Snapchat were hard to be tracked. Also, it was challenging to see specifically its potential effects on children as many researchers have conducted their research among college students. The scope of the paper restricts to giving a depth of the historical context of Snapchat, how it has evolved and the role it plays in society as a platform. Advocacy for Snapchat prohibition for students of school age is essential.

 

References

 

Burnell, K., Kurup, A. R., & Underwood, M. K. (2021). Snapchat lenses and body image concerns. New Media & Society, 24(9), 2088-2106. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444821993038.

Charteris, J., & Gregory, S. (2018). Snapchat and digitally mediated sexualised communication: ruptures in the school home nexus. Gender and Education, 32 (6),803-819. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2018.1533922

Charteris, J., Gregory, S., & Masters, Y. (2016). “Snapchat”, youth subjectivities and sexuality: disappearing media and the discourse of youth innocence. Gender and Education, 30(2), 205–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2016.1188198

Handyside, S., & Ringrose, J. (2017). Snapchat memory and youth digital sexual cultures: mediated temporality, duration and affect. Journal of Gender Studies, 26(3), 347–360. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2017.1280384

Lemay, D. J., Bazelais, P., & Doleck, T. (2019). Patterns of social networking use and academic performance: Examining the link between quality and frequency of social networking use and academic performance among college-level students. Education and Information Technologies, 25(1), 2261-2273. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-019-10065-7

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Rozgonjuk, D., Sindermann, C., Elhai, J. D., & Montag, C. (2020). Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) and social media’s impact on daily-life and productivity at work: Do WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat Use Disorders mediate that association? Addictive Behaviors, 110(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106487

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