By Hailey Maes
The Centennialight
Social media consumes a big majority of teens and even young adults lives. In some cases, teens become dependent on social media and how others view them on social media.
Twelve is the average age in which a child creates a social media account, and from that time on excessive amounts of time spent on social media, slowly takes a toll on their mental health and overall well being.
When teens spend an excessive amount of time on social media it's threatening to their social skills and can cause them to develop anxiety and even depression.
According to the US National Library of Medicine, teens with high anxiety are less likely to participate in sports, or activities in and outside of school. They are also less likely to be socially active and make new friends, not having friends to socialize with creates a lonely isolation which leads to depression.
Having a life existing primarily on social media can lead to poor self esteem and self image issues. Teens now care more about how many followers they have on social media rather than how many friends they have in real life.
They compare themselves to others and they are looking at other people on social media with the negative mindset, “I’m never going to be as good as these people.” That mindset puts them at risk of increasing depression and isolation, and these are all factors that can contribute to feelings of suicide, especially when bullying gets added to the mix.
Cyber bullying is a huge issue right now, social media has created an anonymous and easier way to put other people down and induce negative feelings on themselves.
With all of these factors combined the internet and social media can be a very negative place; and, in my opinion, an excessive amount can, in the long run, ruin the development of a person.
Comments