Social Media Affects Teens

Social Media Affects Teens

Jade Cashmore

University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee

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Social Media Affects Teens

My topic that was chosen is how does social media impact teens. There are many affects that

teens face while their using their phones and different social media sites. Some of those affects

they face are health issues and bullying. Parents and teens should read the risks they are facing

every time they open the social media page. This is super important to me because I have seen

the two sides of social media throughout my time of being on it and I wished I had a parent that

understood and that I could talk to about it. I believe that is how teens are feeling now. The

different research that I included in this, is very important to parents, teens, and even teachers

as we progress in this technology driven world. The problems that teens are facing with social

media is detrimental and needs to be supervised.

Social Media Affects Teens

What is Social media?

USA today Maureen Linke reported that there are two sides of social media that goes

unseen. For example, “A substantial percentage of teens -- 41% -- reported negative experiences

online, says a report out today from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project,

which surveyed 799 kids ages 12 to 17 and a parent or guardian. But 65% of teens say they also

have had an experience on a site that made them feel good about themselves, and 58% say a

site has made them feel closer to another person.” (Linke 2011) The two sides of social media

are important to know about and important for parents to teach their children about so this is

not an occurring problem with the use of social media. Parents should help their students

develop a sense of how social media works and allow them to know the unhealthy, or healthy
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impacts that social media develops within. Some makes you feel closer to a person however,

sometimes you witness cruel interactions between people.

What is the problems with social media?

In these articles they led to social media causing issues with mental health. Social media

is a serious issue. Parents of the students using social media should be aware of the results that

it is causing on certain students. Educational Journal mentioned “Shirley Cramer CBE, Chief

Executive, RSPH, said that through the Young Health Movement, young people had reported that

social media had had both a positive and negative impact on their mental health. She pointed

out that it had been interesting to see Instagram and Snapchat ranked as the worst for mental

health and wellbeing, as both platforms were very image-focused, and it appeared that they may

be driving feelings of inadequacy and anxiety in young people.” (Educational Journal 2017) In this

way students are struggling with the continuous feeling of inadequacy. Nelson stated that he

would not be surprised if there was a backlash in social media because of people feeling as if

they’re alone but not alone. (Nelson 2013) This problem occurs more and more. We are linked to

everyone just by a touch of the phone however, people are feeling more alone than ever before.

Technology is now becoming essential in the classrooms. Students are beginning to learn

from certain sites. Machado (1997) encountered the problem that not everyone is given equal

access to technology. In some ways, students cannot afford technology in which they are not

aware on how to use it. Therefore, to advance in technology in the classroom is unfair to some

students and teachers that are not sure how to use it. So, until we are all given equal access to

technology then, it should not be implemented into our lesson plans. McCormak (2008) also

states that there are embedded lessons in movies that are not exactly said but students are
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feeling that way. In this example McCormak used the movie happy feet and how the penguin felt

alone in the movie. In that aspect students are starting to see that and feel that way in their own

lives. Therefore, McCormak states she only thinks educational movies should be allowed in the

classroom.

According to Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, it states there are five ways to

counteract or get away from smart phone addiction. Rosen contributes five different ways that

you can counteract smartphone use. The five ways that Rose says “1. Recalibrate response time

expectations. 2. Take regular, restorative breaks. 3. Reclaim friend and family time. 4. Keep

technology out of the bedroom. 5. Use “cc” and “reply all” judiciously.” Rosen (2018) These five

ways give descriptions that will essentially fix your addiction if you follow those rules. This is a

huge contribution because teens are really becoming addicted to social media and smart phones

and these are ways to get out of the hold social media has on us. Have you ever heard someone

say, “I cannot go anywhere without my phone!!”? That is an occurring problem in which people

are so addicted. Schlumpf (2018) also contributes social media helps with connecting to people

that we don’t see every day and it keeps in contact with them. Schlumpf explains the fact on why

you should not give up social media for lent. One of the reasons she explains is if you give social

media up for lent then you’re basically giving up talking to people for lent and that is not the

point. So, being addicted to social media is an issue, however, giving it up all together is not a

good idea.

What are the solutions to the effects of social media?

To fix a problem, you must be willing to admit the problem. Roberts (2013) Includes

parents should know the problems that social media brings on when students enter the social
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media world. Teens are having a rough time with social media and sometimes don’t want to

voice their problems. Roberts (2013) allowed the parents to stand behind the one-way glass in

which the teens did not know and they asked the teens all the problems they are facing in social

media and smartphones. The teens told all their problems to the news reporter without knowing

that their parents were there. This made it possible for the parents to know how their teens

were feeling about social media. Educational Journal (2015) stated that caffeinated drinks before

bed and social media use before bed is affecting students school performances the next day. This

states that social media is causing restless nights and not allowing the students to get the rest

they need to function at school the next day. Same with the caffeinated drinks before bed. That

is keeping students up. To solve that, parents should not allow phones in the bedrooms nor

allow their students to drink caffeine before bed. Nelson (2017) also states ways that we can

remain aware and responsible in the technology usage. Nelson (2017) exemplifies ways that

parents can assure their students are using their social media sites correctly and efficiently

instead of allowing them to be hurt by the sites. Nelson (2017) also states that there is a sense of

community, but social media also causes mental health problems so remaining aware is a way

that you can make sure you are using the site correctly.

What is the history of social media?

Social media affects teens greatly. In certain aspects teens are feeling alone, diagnosis of

mental health problems, and losing sleep while using social media. The problems in social media

are exemplified through every teen you see. They are becoming addicted to these phones. Also,

teens especially are starting to feel more alone now than ever before. These certain aspects of

social media are not good and are being shown through many teens now. Some of the causes
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that are contributing to social media affects are teens feel their lives depend on these social

media sites. Have you ever heard someone say, “I can’t leave the house without my phone!” I

am so guilty of this and that is a cause our phones have on us. We are trapped in a technology

centered world and it is just evolving from here. I feel that parents should be aware of these

causes of social media and not allow their children to use social media so freely. “Parents should

co-account with their teens, so they know everything that is happening within this technology

centered world” Tamburro (2017) In Tamburro’s case, he wanted teens to stay remain aware

and responsible in this social media centered world.

Readers may think that there are good aspects of social media and technology in which

there are. However, most of the effects are not so good. Many articles state the bad points of

technology while very little articles state the good social media has.

Effects of social media and my life

My stance on Effects of social media

If you think of all the different times you’ve been on social media, I’m sure you can think

of at least a couple times when you’ve been on social media and seen someone being mean to

someone else. That’s common and sometimes its between people who don’t even know each

other. that has happened to me, and I can think of one time in particular.

Personal relevance

A friend of mine let’s call her Jessica for the sake of this story, we were sitting on the bed

in my grey, dark bedroom. We had taken my sisters laptop while she was gone. We knew we

were not supposed to do that, but we did it any how to get on to Facebook. So, we were sitting
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at the computer gleaming about using Facebook for the first time by ourselves. We were so

excited. Until, something happened. That rocked her whole world. Sitting with my friend on the

computer. We were having so much fun! We loved the aspect of being allowed to be on

Facebook in our freshman year. We opened the computer, logged onto Facebook and began

exploring the site. However, we did that for a while until it became really popular for everyone.

My "friends" began to write mean and hurtful things. I remember someone commenting on my

friends’ picture

"You look like a whale."

Being young, that made my friend really upset. She began to cry and began looking at all the

overflowing comments that began flooding in. Her tears were flooding her eyes as she could not

believe the meanness that our “friends” portrayed. This made her more upset she slammed the

computer shut. A stream of tears just began flowing down her face. I tried to make it better by

making comments like

“You’re so pretty” or

“Who cares? You don’t even know him”

But nothing was helping, and nothing was making It better. This was so surprising to me that

people could act that way. She stormed out of the bedroom to put the stolen laptop back in my

sister’s bedroom. She swore that she would never use social media again after this incident. Till

this day, she still does not open a social media cite for the incident that happened years ago.

Since I care for her so much, this made me hate social media. Every time I logged on, I noticed

more mean comments about people. The comments are degrading to people’s emotional well-
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being. Also, these comments really hurt people in a way that can potentially ruin their self-

esteem.

This experience showed me first-hand the bullying side of social media. Social media can

be used in mean ways and it is used like that all the time. I learned that social media is not as

wonderful as everyone puts it on to be. I’m so happy that I learned that at such a young age, so I

was affected with the addictive part of social media in my later teen years. I do not believe that

teens under fifteen should be allowed on social media without their parent’s supervision. Even

though fifteen seems as if it is too old to still be supervised on social media but it is detrimental

to teens health.

My core values

My core values are extremely important to me. They are important because it’s how I

view myself and how others view me. My core values that I have noticed that define me are

acceptance, caring, joy, commitment, dependability, encouragement, family, peace, usefulness,

and thankfulness. I believe that each of these core values are exemplified through my actions in

work and in school. These values were especially portrayed through this story as I cared for her

while this was happening and also accepted her with open arms as she was devastated. These

core values are not shown much anymore, and you can see that in social media now. For

example, joy is affected when people use social media to be mean to others. There are so many

values that are at stake when you use social media, and that’s a choice that should be made.
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Reference:

Instagram linked to young people’s mental health problems. (2017). Education Journal, (304),
12. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a
ph&AN=123230689&site=eds-live

Machado, P. B. (1997). Equal access to technology. Thrust for Educational Leadership, 26(7), 29.
Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a
ph&AN=9706231606&site=eds-live

Maureen Linke, & USA TODAY. (n.d.). Teens see two sides of social media. USA Today. Retrieved
from
http://ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a
ph&AN=J0E312104905911&site=eds-live

McCormack, S., & Boske, C. (2008). So Deeply Embedded: Using Inquiry to Understand the
Influence of Popular Media in the Classroom. Educational Considerations, 36(1), 6–10.
Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e
ft&AN=508009556&site=eds-live

Nelson, K. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a
ci&AN=88110112&site=eds-live

Roberts, D. (2017). Behind the Glass. Nightline (ABC), 1. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=b
wh&AN=126043787&site=eds-live

Rosen, L. (2018). 5 Ways to Counteract Your Smartphone Addiction. Harvard Business Review
Digital Articles, 2–4. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=b
uh&AN=128873400&site=eds-live

SCHLUMPF, H. (2016). Facebook as the new chocolate: Should you give up social media for
Lent? National Catholic Reporter, 52(9), 17–22. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a
ph&AN=112957676&site=eds-live

Social media and drinks before bed affect teenagers’ school performances. (2015). Education
Journal, (253), 16. Retrieved from
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http://ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a
ph&AN=111478749&site=eds-live

Tamburro, C. (2017). Remaining Aware & Responsible Teens & Tech In The Social Media Age.
ExceptionalParent,47,23–25.Retrievedfrom
http://ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e
ue&AN=125250967&site=eds-live