Social media is a platform to interact and adhere in society and around world.
Although social media has encouraged mass awareness, interaction, knowledge based society, it has certain associated flaws.

Cyber-bullying may be defined as the act of harassment, intimidation, threatening of another person, via the cyber-space.

The positive effects –

1. Enabling better communication and connectivity with peers.
   2. A source for self-motivation.
   3. Social media has acted as an alternative avenue for entertainment for children.
   4. In a way, it has also helped in better access to new kinds of information, as well as knowledge sharing.

Ill-effects –

1. The urge to visit inappropriate websites, without necessary filters or regulatory mechanisms being in place.
2. . Issues like online stalking, body-shaming, trolling and cyber-bullying have shown an exponential rise over the years.
3.  Access to the dark web, where organised criminals function, has been made easily accessible through social media networks. Ex: The recent revelation of school-going children procuring drugs through such networks, in Hyderabad.
4.  Problems like obesity, mood swings, and online addiction have been observed in recent times. Decline in physical activity has also been seen in case of children.
5.  Most importantly, the inability to differentiate between real life interaction skills, and ability to communicate digitally has been observed. Ex: Children have found it difficult to cultivate real life inter-personal skills due to excessive dependence on social media.

The Effects of Cyberbullying –

Victims of cyberbullying may experience many of the same effects as children who are bullied in person, such as a drop in grades, low self-esteem, a change in interests, or depression. However cyberbullying can seem more extreme to its victims because of several factors:

• It occurs in the child’s home. Being bullied at home can take away the place children feel most safe.
• It can be harsher. Often kids say things online that they wouldn’t say in person, mainly because they can’t see the other person’s reaction.
• It can be far reaching. Kids can send emails making fun of someone to their entire class or school with a few clicks, or post them on a website for the whole world to see.
• It can be anonymous. Cyberbullies often hide behind screen names and email addresses that don’t identify who they are. Not knowing who is responsible for bullying messages can add to a victim’s insecurity.
• It may seem inescapable. It may seem easy to get away from a cyberbully by just getting offline, but for some kids not going online takes away one of the major places they socialize.

In short, social media has had a mixed effect on children. Proper supervision by parents and teachers, and regulating the time spent on internet through various productive activities and hobbies, might be regarded as some of the ways in which the ill effects of social media on children might be minimized.