Social Media and Teenage Health 👻📱

How much technology use is safe? The answer to this question can differ from family to family. There are some families who don’t see harm in allowing their children to create social media accounts at any age and providing them with smartphones from a young age. My family didn’t believe this way. My family had similar thoughts as this family. Sienna O’Connor is a twelve year old who has been raised by parents who monitor her internet usage. She has been given a cell phone but it only makes calls and texts, she also has a laptop, but her internet usage is monitored and kept to a minimum. This is a great way to keep teenagers from being cyber bullied or committing suicide through there young teenage years.

This article mentions many things that I have previously posted about such as, comparing ourselves to others, becoming restless, rise in cyber bullying, fear of missing out, and depression. It also includes other ways social media is affecting teens mental health that haven’t been talked about as much but are still as important. These include how social media glamorizes drug and alcohol use, multitasking which causes distractions, and hindering in person social skills. Each of these ten facts are proven ways that social media has affected teens and their mental health.

Everyone knows that social media addiction is real and most common in teenagers. Addiction to social media is formed when people are constantly wondering what others are doing or feeling the pressure to reply to messages as soon as they are received. A test was conducted to see just how severely social media impacted the lives of people and their emotions. After this study, 53% of participants admitted that social media had affected their behaviors while 51% of them said it had changed in a negative way. This was due to them feeling less about themselves after seeing their friends on social media. They compared themselves to others and this is what creates negative responses because they felt less than their friends.

“ Experts in teenage mental health say social media is a significant factor in a rising tide of anxiety among teenagers and adolescents. “ The teenage years for almost anyone were the hardest years of their lives. By the increase of social media, it is making this time even harder for teenagers. The anxiety they receive from social media can get so bad that they are unable to attend school or perform basic tasks. The mental health of teenagers is very important. They should be healthy and happy but instead social media is causing the complete opposite for them. They are unable to enjoy their teenage years because of the pressure of social media.

Social media is a big part of teenagers lives. When a study was completed, 90 percent of the teenagers questioned admitted to using social media daily. There is an increase activity around bedtime. This is causing teenagers to loose important sleep because they are checking social media accounts and worried about what is going on. By feeling pressure to always keep up with social media and reply to messages quickly, teenagers are having more anxiety. This study proved that the more teenagers are actively involved on social media, the greater the risk for impaired sleep, poor self-esteem, depression and/or anxiety.

With as advanced as technology has come, we are now able to post live videos to social media. Many teenagers use this as a way to get attention or show off while others take it more serious and use it as a way to reach out for help. There has now been a teenager who has committed suicide while recording live on social media. The world needs to see just how serious this issue is and how social media is harming our younger generation. They become wrapped up in everything going on online or are being bullied and it is taking over their lives. In many cases it is even ending their lives.

As I have mentioned before, social media creates a negative image for many young teenagers. Instagram has recently been voted as the worst social media site for young people and their mental health. Over 700 million users worldwide are on Instagram a day. No one wants to post negative things in their life, so Instagram is full of positive or sexual content. By only posting positive experiences from your life, it is made out to look through social media that they have a wonderful life in which nothing ever goes wrong. Other teenagers will compare themselves to those pictures and wonder why their lives are so perfect and their lives aren’t. Instagram is also known for where people get the most likes on a picture. When someone can receive 500 likes and others are receiving 10 it can begin to affecting them negatively as if something is wrong with them.

Social media can lead to severe outcomes. Many people suffer from mental side effects, but this young woman began suffering physically. This article shows just how hard models have to work in order to maintain their figures. This is known as the “dream body” when really it is physically painful for these women to look this way. An Instagram model left the industry and in this article exposes all of the things she went through to be a model. This image of a “dream body” is what many young girls see online which gives them the idea that the only acceptable body is super skinny. This is how many girls become depressed through social media because in their minds, they don’t fit the standard of what is beautiful. What is hidden as well, is what these models are having to do in order to stay the size they are.

This is another example of suicide due to social media. Seven Penn students have committed suicide after having negative experiences with social media. Social media is supposed to be fun for everyone and a way for people to stay connected. Instead, it is proving to increase negative effects and serious outcomes rather than positive ones. The most common age for social media suicide are ages 15 to 24. These kids’ social media experiences were bad enough that they wanting, and made the decision, to end their lives. How long are we going to sit back and let this keep happening?

Every social media site has pros and cons to it. For example, being able to stay in contact with long distance friends and family is wonderful. Although, cyber bullying is serious and many teenagers have committed suicide due to the amount of bullying they receive online. One con that social media sites have in common is their cyber bullying rate. Also, many people who use social media end up feeling worse about themselves afterward.

Social media can become toxic. Many people value their self-worth through social media. By posting selfies then consistently checking to see how many likes it received. Hoping to receive messages and then when other people post pictures out with their friends, we can feel left out and that we don’t matter. Our mental health is important and social media can be affecting our mental health in a negative way. By limiting the access we have to social media, we can increase our self-worth and enjoy life with less stress.

In today’s society, it is common for people to have smartphones and social media accounts. It is even becoming more acceptable for younger children to have these things as well. This boy was pranked by an older girl through social media. Sadly, this resulted in him committing suicide at the young age of 11. For young children like this, it is important for their parents to keep an eye on what/who they associate with online. In many cases, bullying is happening every day online and parents have no idea this is going on. This just proves how severely social media an impact people’s lives starting at such a young age.

Teenagers today are never bored. With any downtime they have, they can open their phones and begin scrolling though any social media for hours. Before smart phones, teenagers were forced to communicate by speaking and holding conversations and hanging out with their friends in person. Today all of this can be avoided by video chat, Snapchat, and text messaging. By doing this, teenagers are missing out on many fun experiences in life. They are secluding themselves from the rest of the world and only focusing on what everyone else is posting about. This hinders them from being able to form friendships and communication skills. Cyber bullying has also become more popular due to social media. Kids can say hurtful things easier when it is through a screen. None of this is healthy for a growing teenager.

There are many outcomes when it comes to social media and teenagers. For example, many teens become envious, set unrealistic expectations, feel neglected, or even begin getting stalked. All of this is because of social media and can lead to depression in teenagers. If you ask me, I would say this is very unhealthy for young adults.

My name is Kenna Burnette and I am a senior at Old Dominion University. I am currently taking a modern technology class which requires us to make a Tumblr. I have never had a Tumblr before so I am learning how to work it. For this project, I wanted to inform people on the impact social media is making on teenagers health. Their mental and physical health is being impacted daily by what they witness through social media. I hope this page is able to bring awareness to how serious this issue is.