83% Of 10-12 Year-Olds Feel Pressure To Look Good In Selfies

A new survey commissioned by BBC Newsround shows that ten to twelve year-olds feel pressure to look good in selfies they share on social media. The survey, which was commissioned to coincide with today's 'Safer Internet Day', involved one thousand ten to twelve year-olds who use social media. More than half (55 percent) of those surveyed say that they share selfies, with the vast majority of those saying it's important they look good in the selfies they post (83 percent). On average this age-group take four selfies before choosing one to share and three out of four (75 percent) say they edit photos before posting them. One in five (20 percent) agree that when they see photos of celebrities on social media it makes them worry about how they look. The survey also looked into the new concept of 'sharenting' - parents sharing images of their children on social media, and found that many kids don't appreciate their parents' actions. The deputy editor of Newsround, Georgina Bowman, commented,

"We commissioned this research to find out more about how our audience are using social media, as part of broader coverage of Safer Internet Day on CBBC. We discovered they're feeling under pressure to take the 'perfect' selfie. It's also clear that parents' ability to embarrass their children lives on when they share pictures of their kids on social media."

Almost 30 percent of the tweens reported that their parents post pictures of them on social media, causing them to feel embarrassed, anxious, or nervous. One quarter of the youngsters surveyed (27 percent) say they have been unhappy with a photo someone else has shared of them, with 39 percent saying it made them feel sad, anxious or nervous. The most common reasons for feeling unhappy were not liking the way they looked (61 percent) and not being asked permission first (42 percent). Globally, Safer Internet Day is celebrated in over a hundred countries, with the support of the European Commission. The occasion sees hundreds of organisations getting involved to help promote the safe, responsible, and positive use of digital technology for children and young people. But it seems that, despite the ever-increasing pressures on children who use social media, they wouldn't be without it;  83 percent reported feeling happy, sociable or excited when they use it and 39 percent stated that they would feel excluded, sad or lonely if they didn’t have it any more. Hmm. I don't know about you guys but I'm just glad I got to grow up before ANY of these things existed. Do you have a selfie-obsessed tween? Do you monitor their use of social media? Let us know your thoughts in the Facebook comments.