“For young people who have become addicted to social media and its darker sides, this does not need to be your life. To people in power and to people who can make a change, please criminalise harmful content. Please eradicate harmful content. We don't want it. We want our children back. We don't want to lie awake terrified for our children's mental health. And to any young person who might be listening and who feels they are trapped in an unhealthy world please ask for help. There is no shame in admitting that you need support, it will be there just ask for it.”
This is an excerpt from a speech given by Kate Winslet in British Academy Television Awards, 2023, where she won the leading actress award for her drama ‘I Am Ruth’.
I Am Ruth is a drama which mirrors real life situations that many parents face in the digital age. It is a story about a mother's struggle to help her daughter fight the menace of the online world and survive mental health issues. Digital age has opened a new paradigm of parenting which is complex but severely transforming the relationship between parents and their children. The peril of the online world has significantly impacted the mental health of teenagers.
Young people have created a new life for themselves in social media, a space where everyone tries to constantly manage their self image online. They are in constant pressure of proving themselves, struggling to imitate so- called ideal body image (beauty standards) and project an identity of themselves that is acceptable to peers (pressure to peer conformity). This constant social pressure is taking a toll on the mental health of the younger generation, forcing them into the dark web of depression, anxiety, self harm and sometimes even leading them to suicide.
The content on social media platforms is perpetuated by a vicious algorithm that often fails to recognize the age of a person sitting in front of a screen. Adolescence is a very crucial stage of their life and whose imprints and experiences cast a shadow on the rest of their life. This is the age where teenagers long for approval and it helps in their socialisation and adopting good and positive things. But this longing for approval has a very different connotation for today's younger generation, it is all about number of likes, followers, friends and comments appreciating them.
Teenagers at this stage have a high risk taking attitude by joining unknown communities online, talking to strangers, watching different and age-inappropriate content which traditionally wasn’t allowed for children to watch, following viral trends and this makes them particularly the most vulnerable section on the internet.
Chris Said, a data scientist who has a Ph.D. in psychology from Princeton University and has worked at Facebook and Twitter said that, “The timing is hard to ignore, "Social media was like a nuclear bomb on teen social life. I don't think there's anything in recent memory, or even distant history, that has changed the way teens socialise as much as social media," he added.
Social media users engage themselves in a constant loop with no way out. I Am Ruth is a story where Ruth, a mother, witnesses a terrifying episode in the life of her daughter Freya where she is being consumed by social media.
Young people need to understand the fact that asking for help is not the sign of their weakness but the strength and maturity. Today’s young generation ask for help in online spaces instead of asking elders for help. Many criminals out there take advantage of this vulnerability and further exploit them.
Asking for help is only possible when parents provide them an environment where children can open up without being worried about the reactions of the parents. Parents need to sit and talk with the children about the platform they use and what things they follow. It is always necessary for their parents to keep track of the latest developments in the online world and help children navigate it. Sometimes learn from them and make them learn good digital etiquettes because the ultimate objective is not to make children safe from the online world but safe within it.
