A recent United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report has highlighted the negative impact of social media and digital technology on the well-being, learning, and career decisions of girls both globally and in Nigeria.
The report, entitled “Global Education Monitoring Report 2024: Gender Report — Technology on Her Terms,” seen by Nairametrics, revealed that while digital tools can enhance education, they also pose risks such as privacy invasion and cyber bullying, which particularly affects the self-esteem and body image of girls.
This leads to negative outcomes in their well-being, learning, and career decisions.
Technology creates online risks
The report speaks about the dual potential of technology to both enhance and hinder educational access and outcomes, depending on how it’s implemented.
For example, a positive outcome of technology is its use during the Boko Haram crisis in Adamawa State, Nigeria, where the Technology Enhanced Learning for All program utilized mobile and radio technology to support 22,000 disadvantaged children, including those internally displaced. Within six months, notable improvements were observed in literacy and numeracy skills, particularly among girls.
However, the report also points out challenges such as biased social norms and cultural barriers that can limit equitable access to technology. It notes that perceptions of girls being more vulnerable to online risks can lead to restrictive practices that limit their access to digital technology, potentially exacerbating gender disparities, UNESCO said.
The report notes that excessive exposure to social media can have detrimental effects on girls’ self-esteem and body image. In the United Kingdom, a study found that 10% of 10-year-old girls reported spending one to three hours a day on social media, a figure that increases to 43% by age 15, compared to 31% among boys of the same age. This suggests that girls are often more engaged with social media, which can impact their mental health and educational outcomes.
Such exposure can have detrimental effects on girls’ self-esteem and body image. Girls often spend more time on social media than boys. In the United Kingdom, a study reported that 10% of 10-year-old girls reported spending one to three hours a day (compared with 7% of boys), increasing to 43% at age 15 (31% among boys).
- “Attitudes and perceptions that girls are more vulnerable to online risks can severely restrict girls’ access to technology, leading to restrictive practices that limit their engagement with digital technology”.
- “Accessing the Internet is commonly associated with risks to children from exposure to pornography, which may lead to ‘poor mental health, sexism and objectification, sexual violence, and other negative outcomes’ (UNICEF, 2021b)”, the report indicated
Social media negatively affects well-being of girls
Studies show that girls tend to spend more time on social media than boys, and this higher engagement is associated with decreased well-being. This is partly because social media platforms, influenced by algorithms, often perpetuate social inequalities and negative gender norms, adversely affecting children’s well-being, particularly among girls.
The impact of social media on body image has been well-documented across various age groups, from pre-teens to university students. Users often report greater body-related image concerns than non-users, highlighting the pervasive influence of these platforms.
Furthermore, the report indicates that globally, girls aged 16 to 24 spend on average 2 hours and 59 minutes per day on social media, compared to 2 hours and 32 minutes among boys. This disparity underscores the need for greater awareness and measures to mitigate the negative effects of social media on girls.
- “Pre-teenage girls, secondary and university students who use Facebook- reported more body-related image concerns than non-users.
- Facebook’s research found that 32% of teenage girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse (Wells et al., 2021).
- “Girls are more likely to be victimized through social media, while boys are more likely to experience cyberbullying through video games and mobile phone texts (Stoilova et al., 2021).
- “Social media seemed to have a stronger impact on girls’ well-being than boys’, while cyberbullying was found to cause more harm to girls’ well-being than lack of sleep or exercise (Department for Education, 2016; Viner et al., 2019).
- “Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study indicates that girls in Europe report feeling lonelier and experience more strain on their mental health compared to boys World Health Organization’s 2021/22.
- A study of undergraduate students at a public university in Saudi Arabia showed that nearly half of all participants admitted to being harassed, stalked or bullied on different digital platforms, with female students more likely to be recipients of unwanted sexual messages and photos.
While technology holds great promise for advancing education and providing new opportunities, especially for girls and women in Nigeria and globally, it also requires effective interventions and policies as well as careful management to ensure safe educational environments and equal rights for all students to prevent exacerbating existing gender inequalities and to ensure it benefits all learners equally.
The report therefore emphasizes the need for better education and regulations to protect girls online, in line with UNESCO’s Guidelines for the Governance of Digital Platforms.
