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How was the Year 2020 for Teenagers and Youth?

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

The year 2020 was quite depressing for almost all of us. However, one group significantly affected by this pandemic is teenagers. School closures and enforced social distancing have cut off many teens from primary means of psychological support, putting them at higher risk of developing anxiety and depression.

It seems 2020 was a bit of a halt to a flowing stream of human life. However, the year 2020 does provide some life-changing lessons to us and become a source of inspiration for many. To learn more about the impacts of this pandemic on teen’s life, I have gone through many websites and tried to explore how the world is out looking pandemic after ten months of Covid-19 spread.  The following is the roundup of the research, ideas, and news about young people’s experiences during pandemic times.

The Most Frequently Use Word in Germany During 2020

The German Youth Word of the Year in 2020 is actually an English word, lost. German teens don’t use it in the sense of having lost their way, but to express a lack of perspective, or of not knowing what to do. Teens might also use the term in math class, for instance, to say ‘I don’t get it.’ Continue reading “How was the Year 2020 for Teenagers and Youth?” →

Why Parents Need to Aware of What Content Their Child Is Browsing?

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

What Role Parents Should Play in Keeping Their Child Digitally Safe and Secure

Yesterday, one of my student’s parent calls me and ask me whether she let her 15-year-old kid to have a cell phone or not because what she believes that kids usually invest all of their spare time on a cell phone. Similarly, she also fears that what if her kid got access to some inappropriate content like pornography or start participating in hateful content or messages. What that parent shared is a fear of every parent, especially in today’s virtual era where kids have easy access to thousands of internet websites. Kids are now using tablets, and smart gadgets more commonly as schools are going virtual due to pandemic. However, what parents should do to keep their kids safe and secure? Do they start surveilling every website they visit and breach their sense of privacy and trust? Continue reading “Why Parents Need to Aware of What Content Their Child Is Browsing?” →

Why Do Teenagers Cyberbully Themselves?

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

Bullying has existed even before the internet, its impact has increased with the emergence of online communities

Over the past few years, where the internet makes distance learning and connectivity possible during catastrophic times like the present pandemic. However, the other side of the coin has a potentially harmful effect especially on teenagers, from the proliferation of fake news to online harassment. We have seen a massive increase in cyber abuse cases in India and Pakistan since the COVID-19 closure. Alone Pakistan has a tremendous 189% increase in cyber-harassment cases since April 2020. But these numbers are related to the victims who are virtually harassed by someone else, who might be known or unknown to them. What if the victim and the abuser would be the same?

Studies show that 13 percent to 18 percent of distressed teens physically injure themselves via cutting, burning or other forms of self-harm to cope with their pain. However, recent researches suggest that teenagers are now engaging in a newer form of self-aggression – Self-Cyberbullying. Digital Self-Harm is not a recent phenomenon, over the years the tendency of sending rude comments to themselves by teenagers over social media sites have increased rapidly. Continue reading “Why Do Teenagers Cyberbully Themselves?” →

Moving Blues: Helping Your Teen to Handle Emotional Challenges of Moving

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

Why Especially Teenagers Feel Upset About Moving?

Last week, I moved out to a new apartment after spending almost 11 years in that apartment. While shifting my house-hold accessories, I was recalling many fond and cherished memories that I have made in all these years. Even the move was planned, I still felt on the last day that it was kind of a big step towards a whole new journey. This new experience reminds me of a student who, along with her parents, move to a new city. On her last day of school, she was devastated to meet her friends for the last time. Relocation is tough either from where you are living or studying. However, if you are a teenager, it is quite difficult to leave behind the school, friends, clubs and other commitments, as well as perhaps the only home you, have ever known. This transition from one place to another becomes more difficult for teenagers especially when so many emotional and physical changes already taking place in their lives.

Researchers believe that one of the major stresses in life is leaving behind friends, familiar places, and activities that eventually creates anxiety for everyone involved. One unexpected difference maybe school. It’s easy to assume that one school is pretty much like another, but for your kid, the new school may not use the same textbooks or procedures. Some of the classes may be different, or the teacher may have already covered topics your kid hasn’t learned about yet. It can be particularly hard for your kid if they are moving in the middle of a school year, but their teachers will understand and work with them to be sure they feel comfortable. Continue reading “Moving Blues: Helping Your Teen to Handle Emotional Challenges of Moving” →

How Collective Narcissism is Shaping on Social Media

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

Social media is now becoming an inevitable source of meeting and engagement than before. Teens and adults spend hours posting and scrolling on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and a host of other platforms. It is easy to figure out such people who absorbed in a social media frenzy, especially those who post everything about their lives online. One of the integral uses of social media is the ability to display one’s life to the whole world, that makes some people express and post the inordinate amount of information about themselves. Perhaps, for many, posting on social media involves some degree of seeking attention. The question is how this ‘attention-seeking’ behaviour converted into narcissism or, even worse, collective narcissism. Continue reading “How Collective Narcissism is Shaping on Social Media” →