Children’s media use has recently been associated with a direct link to children’s mental health. Do the benefits of social media and gaming outweigh the negative? The children’s media landscape attracts many headlines and has recently been associated with direct causal links to children’s mental health and well-being. But are there benefits? And if so, do these outweigh the negative side of children using social media and gaming? What do children gain from using social networking and gaming sites? What are the effects on children’s mental health through their engagement with online media? For the last 6 months Family Kids & Youth (FK&Y) have carried out on-going peer-to-peer focus groups and friendships groups, and with partner Panelbase a survey with 1,000 young people aged 7-16. The findings challenge some of the scare-headlines, as the research explores how children and young people really use social media and games sites, the benefits, and the drawbacks, the risks they face online and how they manage these. Presented by Dr Barbie Clarke, Family Kids & Youth