More than half of parents think social media is harming their children鈥檚 morality, according to a major study in Birmingham.
The 鈥榩arent poll鈥 carried out by the University of Birmingham found only 15 per cent of parents thought that popular social media sites, such as Facebook, provided a positive influence on a young person鈥檚 character.
Meanwhile, one in four parents said they were 鈥榗oncerned鈥 or 鈥榚xtremely concerned鈥 about the negative and potentially harmful impact of social media.
The survey, which is the first of its type in the 海角视频, points to widespread parental anxieties about the influence of online networks on children as young as 11, who are often using the sites despite age limits.
Researchers from the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues questioned more than 1,700 parents of children aged 11 to 17 across the country.
Dr Blaire Morgan at the University of Birmingham added: 鈥淭he 鈥楶arents and Media鈥 project seeks to offer a more constructive outlook on how social media might impact on a person鈥檚 character and moral values.
鈥淪ocial media is not going away, so by learning more about this relationship we should be able to maximise the benefits of its use and avoid the pitfalls.鈥
Respondents named a number of character strengths that they believed were lacking on social media. 24 per cent said forgiveness and self-control was least present, followed by honesty (21 per cent), fairness (20 per cent) and humility (18 per cent).
However, a bleaker picture emerged when respondents were questioned about the negative character traits, or vices, they saw on social media at least once a month.
A total of 60 per cent of parents named anger and hostility as the most negative trait displayed, followed by arrogance (51 per cent); ignorance (43 per cent); bad judgment (41 per cent); and hatred (36 per cent).
Vanity, commonly perceived to be a major negative character trait in the 鈥渟elfie鈥 generation, came further down at ninth place in the league table of social media vices, comprising of 30 per cent of respondents.
