The influence of social media on children
1
Children as young as ten are becoming dependent on social media for their sense of self-worth, a
major study warned.
2
It found many youngsters now measure their status by how much public approval they get
online, often through “likes”. 3 Some change their behavior in real life to improve their image on the web.
4 The report into youngsters aged from 8 to 12 was carried out by Children’s Commissioner
Anne Longfield. 5 She said social media firms were exposing children to major emotional risks, with some youngsters starting secondary school ill-equipped to cope with the tremendous pressure they faced online.
6 Some social apps were popular among the children even though they supposedly require users to be at least 13. 7 The
youngsters admitted planning trips around potential photo-opportunities and then messaging friends—and friends of friends—to demand “likes” for their online posts.
8 The report found that youngsters felt their friendships could be at risk if they did not respond to social media posts quickly,
and around the clock.
9 Children aged 8 to 10 were “starting to feel happy” when others liked their posts. 10 However, those in the 10 to 12 age
group were “concerned with how many people like their posts”, suggesting a “need” for social recognition that gets stronger the older they become.
11 Miss Longfield warned that a generation of children risked growing up “worried about their appearance and image as a
result of the unrealistic lifestyles they follow on platforms, and increasingly anxious about switching off due to the constant demands of social media”.
12 She said, “Children are using social media with family and friends and to play games when they are in primary school. But
what starts as fun usage of apps turns into tremendous pressure in real social media interaction at secondary school.”
13 As their world expanded, she said, children compared themselves to others online in a way that was “hugely damaging in
terms of their self-identity, in terms of their confidence, but also in terms of their ability to develop themselves”.
14 Miss Longfield added, “Then there is this push to connect—if you go offline, will you miss something, will you miss out,
will you show that you don’t care about those people you are following, all of those come together in a huge way at once.”
15
“For children it is very, very difficult to cope emotionally.” The Children’s Commissioner for England’s study—Life in
Likes—found that children as young as 8 were using social media platforms largely for play.
16 However, the research—involving eight groups of 32 children aged 8 to 12—suggested that as they headed toward their
teens, they became increasingly anxious online.
17 By the time they started secondary school—at age 11—children were already far more aware of their image online and felt
under huge pressure to ensure their posts were popular, the report found.
18
However, they still did not know how to cope with mean-spirited jokes, or the sense of incompetence they might feel if
they compared themselves to celebrities or more brilliant friends online. 19 The report said they also faced pressure to respond to messages at all hours of the day—especially at secondary school when more youngsters have mobile phones.
20
The Children’s Commissioner said schools and parents must now do more to prepare children for the emotional minefield
they faced online.21 And she said social media companies must also “take more responsibility”. 22 They should either monitor their websites better so that children do not sign up too early, or they should adjust their websites to the needs of younger users.
23 Javed Khan, of children’s charity Barnardo’s, said, “It’s vital that new compulsory age- appropriate relationship and sex
education lessons in England should help equip children to deal with the growing demands of social media.”
24 “It’s also hugely important for parents to know which apps their children are using.”
一．单词和短语Words and expressions
self-worth /ˌself ˈwə:θ/n. 自我价值感 youngster /ˈjʌŋstə/ n. 年轻人
commissioner /kəˈmɪʃənə/ n. 专员; 委员 ill-equipped /ˌɪlɪˈkwɪpt/ adj. 装备不良的 tremendous /trɪˈmendəs/ adj. 巨大的; 极好的 supposedly /səˈpəʊzɪdlɪ/ adv. 据称; 据传 around the clock 昼夜不停地
mean-spirited /ˌmi:nˈspɪrɪtɪd/ adj.小气的; 小心眼的 incompetence /ɪnˈkɒmpɪtəns/ n. 不胜任
minefield /ˈmaɪnfiːld/ n. 布雷区; 充满隐伏危险的事物 sign up 签约参加；报名参加
charity /ˈtʃærɪtɪ/ n. 慈善；施舍；慈善团体
二． 参考译文Translation
社交媒体对孩子的影响
1
一项重要的研究警告称，年仅10岁的儿童为了获得自我价值感而变得依赖社交媒体。
2研究发现，现在许多青少年通过他们在网络上获得公众认可的程度（通常依据点赞数）来衡量他们的
地位。3有些人为了提升他们的网络形象，改变他们在现实生活中的行为。
4这个针对
8至12岁之间的青少年的调查报告是由儿童委员会专员安妮·朗菲尔德提供的。5她说，在一
些开始上中学时还没有能力应对他们在网上所需要面对的巨大压力的情况下，社交媒体公司正让孩子们面临严重的情感方面的风险。
6
尽管人们通常认为孩子需要到达至少13岁才可以注册成为用户, 但一些社交应用软件很受孩子们欢
迎， 7接受采访的青少年们承认，为了给他们发布的网帖求得更多的 “赞”，他们会规划一些旅行以获得可能的拍照机会，然后发信息给朋友——以及朋友的朋友。
8该报告指出，如果没有迅速地、全天候地回应社交媒体上的帖子，那些青少年会感觉到他们的友谊可
能会面临威胁。
9对那些
8到10岁的孩子来说，当有人喜欢他们的帖子时，他们就“开始感到快乐”。10然而，那些10
到12岁年龄段的人却“在意有多少人喜欢他们的帖子”。这一切都表明这些青少年有被社会认可的需求。这种需求越长大，越强烈。
11朗菲尔德女士警告说，这一代青少年在成长的过程中由于他们所追随的社交平台上那种不切实际的生
活方式而担心他们的外貌和形象，同时，由于社交媒体对他们有着持续不断的需求，他们会越来越强烈地对断联感到焦虑。
12
她说：“如今的孩子们与家人和朋友一起使用社交媒体，到了小学的时候用之玩游戏。但是，一开始
用于玩乐的软件到了中学时代便转变成了现实社交互动中的巨大压力。”
13她说，随着孩子们的世界的扩大，他们以一种不但对他们的自我认同感以及自信心具有极大破坏性，
而且对他们自我发展的能力具有极大破坏性的方式将自己与网上的其他人进行比较。
14
朗菲尔德女士补充道，“然后就有了这种被迫要与人联结的推动力——如果你离线，你会不会错过什
么，你会错过吗，你会不会显得不关心那些你一直关注的人。所有这些都立刻以一种排山倒海之势向你袭来。”
15 “对于孩子来说，应对情感上问题是非常非常困难的。”这位儿童委员会专员（负责英国的一项名为“点赞人生”的研究）发现，8岁儿童主要使用社交媒体平台玩游戏。
16然而，这项研究——涉及八组
8至12岁的32名儿童——表明，当他们迈入青少年时期，他们在网上
变得越来越焦虑。
17
报告显示，当他们开始上中学——11岁时——孩子们对他们在网上的形象越来越有意识，并因为想
要确保他们的帖子受欢迎而倍感压力。
18然而，他们此时仍然不知道如何应对心存恶意的玩笑，或者如果他们将自己与名人或比他们更杰出的
网友进行比较，他们不知道如何应对因此产生的无能感。19报告指出，他们也面临着要随时回应信息的压力——特别是到了中学阶段（此时有更多的青少年拥有手机）。
20该专员表示，学校和家长现在必须采取更多的措施以使孩子们可以为他们在网上要面对的情感雷区做
好准备。21她说社交媒体公司也必须“承担更多的责任”。22他们应该更好地监控他们的网站，以防止孩子们太早注册，或者他们应该根据青少年用户的需求调整他们的网站。
23儿童慈善机构巴纳多基金会的贾伟德.坎说：“英格兰新的强制性适龄人际关系和性教育课程应该帮助
孩子们学会应对社交媒体不断增长的需求，这一点至关重要。”
24“对父母来说，知道他们的孩子正在使用哪些应用程序也非常重要。”
三． 理解Comprehension
1. Why did some secondary school students feel too much pressure？ A. They were not provided with adequate equipment. B. They were not well prepared for emotional risks. C. They were required to give quick responses. D. They were prevented from using mobile phones.
2. Some social app companies were to blame because_________. A. they didn’t adequately check their users’ registration B. they organized photo trips to attract more youngsters C. they encouraged youngsters to post more photos D. they didn’t stop youngsters from staying up late
3. Children’s comparing themselves to others online may lead to__________. A. less friendliness to each other B. lower self-identity and confidence C. an increase in online cheating D. a stronger desire to stay online
4. According to Life in Likes, as children grew, they became more anxious to_________. A. circulate their posts quickly B. know the qualities of their posts
C. use mobile phones for play D. get more public approval 5. What should parents do to solve the problem？ A. Communicate more with secondary schools. B. Urge media companies to create safer apps. C. Keep track of children’s use of social media. D. Forbid their children from visiting the web.
Passage 11 三．BABDC
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