By Laura Dinsdale
Ever since social media became popular it’s something almost everyone is using. According to Brown Health University, 97% of teens ages 13-17 are on social media. So many people in their teens use social media.
Social media is a place where many rude things could get posted about you or a close friend/family member; this would mean many of those people suffer the negative effects social media has to bring. In this article you can read about some of the negative impacts social media could be having on teens’ lives.
When teens post online it could cause issues such as addiction. A mechanism is triggered when completing a task, or getting a reward and releases happy hormones. The way this connects to posting on social media is when you see your post getting likes, it triggers the mechanism.
Because of this you end up subconsciously seeing likes and follows as rewards causing you to become attached to the amount of clout you get. This shows using social media excessively can overstimulate the brain’s reward, and when the stimulation becomes excessive it can trigger pathways comparable to addiction.
Social media is also affecting teens’ mental health and self esteem. According to Yale Medicine, mental health issues among teens have been rising over the decade, and social media could be to blame. A study was done on American teens ages 12-15 proving that 3 hours or more a day on social media gives you double the risk of getting anxiety or depression. Cyber bullying is also happening to lots of teens online. It can be very damaging to them and their mental health. Cyberbullying could even lead to suicidal ideation.
I surveyed some students anonymously and asked the same question to each person,“How many hours are you on your phone everyday?” The results I received were, 11 hours, 10 hours, 7 hours, and 9 hours. This data shows how excessively students use their phones. These excessive hours are more than likely harming these students.
According to Hopkins Online, excessive use of screens could not only harm teens mentally but also physically. So many hours of being hunched over looking at a screen creates neck problems. The Hopkins studies show as teens use social media more and more it’s hurting their necks badly, creating medical problems.
It’s been shown that nowadays, almost every teen is addicted to their phones.
Phone addiction can lead to mental and physical health issues, so why do we allow ourselves to continue and have our phones consume our time? If you could learn anything from this article I think it should be that taking breaks from social media are good and learn to live your life without it to the best of your ability.
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