More than half of parents think social media is harming their children’s morality, according to a major study in Birmingham.
The ‘parent poll’ carried out by the University of Birmingham found only 15 per cent of parents thought that popular social media sites, such as Facebook, provided a positive influence on a young person’s character.
Meanwhile, one in four parents said they were ‘concerned’ or ‘extremely concerned’ about the negative and potentially harmful impact of social media.
The survey, which is the first of its type in the UK, points to widespread parental anxieties about the influence of online networks on children as young as 11, who are often using the sites despite age limits.
Researchers from the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues questioned more than 1,700 parents of children aged 11 to 17 across the country.
Dr Blaire Morgan at the University of Birmingham added: “The ‘Parents and Media’ project seeks to offer a more constructive outlook on how social media might impact on a person’s character and moral values.
“Social media is not going away, so by learning more about this relationship we should be able to maximise the benefits of its use and avoid the pitfalls.”
Respondents named a number of character strengths that they believed were lacking on social media. 24 per cent said forgiveness and self-control was least present, followed by honesty (21 per cent), fairness (20 per cent) and humility (18 per cent).
However, a bleaker picture emerged when respondents were questioned about the negative character traits, or vices, they saw on social media at least once a month.
A total of 60 per cent of parents named anger and hostility as the most negative trait displayed, followed by arrogance (51 per cent); ignorance (43 per cent); bad judgment (41 per cent); and hatred (36 per cent).
Vanity, commonly perceived to be a major negative character trait in the “selfie” generation, came further down at ninth place in the league table of social media vices, comprising of 30 per cent of respondents.
