Social Media and Self-Esteem: Helping Children Build a Healthy Relationship with the Online World

It might start innocently enough, your child is laughing at funny videos, scrolling for outfit ideas or books to read. Before long, you notice they seem quieter and more withdrawn. 

Social media can both build and break confidence. 

The positive impact of social media can include expressing creativity, learning opportunities and even community support from their peers. However, it can also negatively promote comparison culture, fear of missing out (or being left out), and increase the need for constant validation from others.  

A study from Internet Matters found that 67% of children have had harmful online experiences, a figure that has remained constant over the last few years.

Additionally, children who are more active on social media (including those posting and commenting) are more likely to experience harm compared to passive users (users who browse) – at 83% vs 60%.  

As parents, our goal is to help our children use it in a way that supports their self-esteem rather than damaging it. But mainstream social media platforms are hard to manage, with little visibility for parents to their children’s online activities.  

The report, ‘Connected & Conflicted: Children’s perspectives on restricting social media for under-16s’ gives key insights into the dangers of social media for children and provides more detail on how we can make a positive change.  

From encouraging critical thinking to teaching them how to curate their feeds and set boundaries online, there are various ways we can help make social media safer for our children. 

Liaura was developed to be part of the solution. Providing a closed, friends-only community with no phone numbers and full parental visibility and control.  

Children can access moderated chats and feed post updates from close friends, engage with educational videos, take quizzes and play fun games. Designed for children aged 6-13, you can be sure that your child is in a safe, age-appropriate online space.  

Download the app and test it today!