Users of social media are getting younger and younger by the year.

While social media use had a tremendous increase over the last 2 years of the pandemic than it has over the past 4 years before COVID-19 hit the world, screen time and usage of teens and tweens have also grown 17% faster during the pandemic as compared to pre-pandemic, current Common Sense Media research showed.

Most social media applications are intended for 13 years old and up, yet nearly one in every five tweens, whose ages are from 8 to 12 years old, are reported using social media daily for mostly entertainment purposes.

Common Sense Media stated that the census results should be an eye-opener for parents and caregivers and be used as an opportunity to start thinking smart and differently on how they can create healthy boundaries in a world being slowly dominated by social media, with no sign of the trend slowing down in a world where media use is higher than ever -- and with no sign of the trend changing. It is also a call for the government to seriously take action and establish legislations that will make social media safe, educational and engaging for children.

With the screen time increasing and the age of users decreasing, parents and caregivers should protect the tweens from the negative impacts of social media. This would include teaching them how to be social media responsible and reminding them that what they post, say, or do online can have long-term consequences for them and others.

Your Kids' Post can Affect Their Academic & Professional Lives

Tweens should know and understand that whatever they post online can affect their future - professionally and academically.

Posts, tweets, and memes can seem insignificant but there have been a lot of cases where these trivial posts or tweets have reached the court and have interrupted one and many students' academic life.

US News reported that many schools are struggling with how they can smoothly intertwine and adapt their conduct policies with students' usage of social media and figure out where to draw the line of discipline and get involved with the online speech that occurs outside of school hours.

In 2021, a Pennsylvania student charged her high school for suspending her from the cheerleading team after a vulgar Snapchat post. She brought this to the Supreme Court and the latter ruled in her favor. In 2019, a high school senior in Lebanon, Ohio, got an 80-day expulsion for creating and posting an explicit meme that involved the school district staff members, which was shared by other students. There are also recent cases at the schools in Newport News, Virginia, Texas, and upstate New York where students have been suspended for posting messages and images that threaten the school and other students.

More than all these, it was also found that one's social media account can be a basis for approval of college applications.

Jonathan Williams, assistant vice president of admissions at New York University said, "We do not proactively check or monitor social media activities of applicants. However, for admitted students, we do make it clear that they are expected to be good citizens online, and to treat others with respect in their online activities."

However, according to a 2020 Kaplan survey, 36% of admissions officers that were surveyed said they do check applicants' social media profiles and to add to that, nearly two-thirds of admissions officers believe that online profiles are fair game during evaluation.

"If you're a prospective student and you think an admissions officer is not going to look at your social media, I think it's a bit naive," says Adam Peruta, associate professor and director of new media management at Syracuse University. "It's always a good idea to go back and do an audit of your social media accounts to look for anything unprofessional, in bad taste, or offensive."

How to Protect your Tweens?

Mayo Clinic suggested that parents should set reasonable limits on social media usage. The same goes with social media - too much of something is bad enough. Do not let social media interfere with school and other activities, sleep, meals and homework. Parents should set an example by respecting the boundaries themselves.

Parents need to keep a tab on their tween's social media accounts and apps. Let them know that their phone and other gadgets will be regularly checked. They can use a service like Family Sharing on Apple devices or Google Family Link to approve any app before it can be downloaded by their tweens.

Ana Homayoun, an educational consultant and author of the book "Social Media Wellness: Helping Tweens and Teens Thrive in an Unbalanced Digital World" recommended, "Parents of 8-to-12-year-olds know all the ways their children are spending time online, and to learn how to use any apps their kids may have access to."

Parents need to encourage face-to-face contact and physical activities with friends. Allow them to see and experience the world outside of social media and the internet.

Lastly and the most important is for parents to keep the communication open. Talk to your tweens and discourage them from gossiping, spreading rumors, bullying, or damaging someone's reputation, online and otherwise. Also, be a willing listener to what they are experiencing through their social media accounts.