Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1250967
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 MAY 2020 NEWS LAURA CALLEJA MALTESE teens have a higher than average problematic re- lationship with social media, according to an international Health Behaviour in School- aged Children (HBSC) study published by the WHO Region- al Office for Europe. The study found that among 13-year-old olds, 20% of girls and 13% of boys were problem- atic social media users. The fig- ures remained relatively similar for 15-year-olds with 18% of girls and 17% of boys labelled as problematic social media users. Eleven-year- olds ranked second. Problematic social media use is charac- terised by addiction-like symptoms such as loss of control over one's use of so- cial media at the expense of other important life domains, including relationships with peers and parents, and hobbies. Dr Albert Bell, a senior lectur- er in the Faculty for Social Well- being, has however cautioned on trying to analysing the fig- ures, saying it is important to not disregard the strengths and benefits of social media. "It is a very strong source of outreach for many people, who may not be able to communicate with oth- ers. The COVID-19 situation exacerbates all of this," Bell said. Bell argued that social media has encouraged persons suffer- ing from loneliness and solitude to reach out to others, especially those who otherwise would not have the opportunity. "I would be cautious in regards to the media frenzy that tends to follow such studies, which try to create a story which deviates from the non-problematic as- pects and the beneficial aspects of social media. This is crucial to understand," he said. Bell explained that while studies may find a correlation between social media use and various social and physiological problems such as mental health conditions like depression, they don't necessarily establish a causal relationship – that is, the belief that one event results in the occurrence of another, subsequent event, behaviour, or belief. "What I am saying is, it's quite obvious that persons who suf- fer from depression, also suffer from loneliness and from sol- itude – and so they tend to have an i n c r e a s e d proclivity to reach out and u s e s o - cial media as a tool to commu- nicate, interact and engage. In fact, it often acts as a substitute for face to face contact, because there isn't any other alterna- tive." Bell said, however, that there were circumstances when ex- treme dependencies were cre- ated – and that was when prob- lematic aspects came in – as it then starts to overtake other aspects of one's life which are important such as physical ex- ercise and so on. "However, we need to make sure we do not pigeon-hole behaviours and give them this problematic label quite loosely." Persons with intellectual disabilities Dr Claire Azzopardi Lane, head of department in Disabil- ities Studies at the University of Malta, says people with disabili- ties often find themselves using social media when they don't have friends and feel more iso- lated. "Because they are isolated, they are using social media more, posting very personal things… we find young people sharing things that are personal, some not understand- ing that they are put- ting themselves as risk," she said. Persons with disabilities may rely more on social media now more than ever as one of the only ways of communicating and interacting with the world out there. "They have been par- ticularly affected by COVID-19 because many of them have secondary medical issues which don't allow them to go out." Azzopardi Lane cautioned however against listing persons with intellectual disability as 'vulnerable'. "I don't want people to think that persons with intellectual disability are 'intrinsically vul- nerable' because they may find themselves in situations that can them make vulnerable, be- cause this is something that could happen to everyone. Still, Azzopardi Lane felt that more restrictions should be put into place in regards to hate speech on platforms such as Tik Tok which remains unregulated unlike other platforms such as Facebook, which to an extent do monitor hate speech. Azzo- pardi Lane suggested a learning platform tailored to persons with disabilities could include the safe use of social media. Bell said that in order to begin remedying problematic social media usage, awareness had to be raised on the problematic aspects of excessive use as well as promoting a certain type of lifestyle – which he says may be difficult under the current COV- ID-19 social distanc- ing measures. "In a nutshell: edu- cation and awareness from a fairly young age, as well as training professionals to be able to detect early signs of problematic usage." Despite the HBSC study showing high levels of problem social media use in Malta, experts caution against using the findings against the beneficial uses of social media Social media use still key for isolated people MALTESE teenagers regis- tered the lowest prevalence of condom use, the international Health Behaviour in School- aged Children (HBSC) study published by the WHO Region- al Office for Europe found. According to the study, 52% of teenagers on the island do not use the two most effective contraceptive methods – a condom or a pill. In fact, 43% of boys and 61% of girls aged 15 said they did not use the pill or a condom during their most recent instances of sexual in- tercourse. During the 2018/2019 scho- lastic year, a total of 31 stu- dents became pregnant while in secondary school, according to data tabled in parliament. Of these, three were 14, eleven were 15, and the rest became pregnant at 16. A spokesperson for the ed- ucation ministry, speaking on behalf of the education department, said that while sexual health is taught in Per- sonal Social and Career De- velopment (PSCD) lessons at school, the explanation for the HBSC figures falls elsewhere. "The fact that girls of that age group, need a prescrip- tion from their family doctor to have access to the pill could be a defining factor as to why the figures are so high… there are unfortunate- l y still myths sur- r o u n d i n g the use of c o n d o m s , such as the per- c e p t i o n t h a t c o n - Teens shun protection despite sex- ed, WHO study finds