Social Media is a form of communication with one another. However, the twist is that social media is communicating online. Not only is it for communication but for finding ideas or even help. Study shows that ninety percent of teens ages 13-17 have used social media the most. There are many negative impacts on the youth using social media, such as severe mental health problems, lack of motivation, and exposure of private information. 

In my opinion, I think that mental health problems are the number one issue from social media. Study shows that 8th to 12th graders have found a high level of depressive symptoms increasing by 33% between the years 2010-2015. 

Social media has caused so much damage to teens and children, which has caused some to take their own lives. According to Etactics, “ The suicide rate for girls in this age group increased 65%” Not only girls but also child suicide rates have become a problem due to social media. Child suicide has increased by up to 150%. 

Lack of motivation is also one of the effects on the youth using social media. Staying too much on the internet or online can be damaging to you and your brain. It changes your behaviors once you are addicted to social media. Lack of motivation can also lead to failure in school or unfinished school work. Study shows that 72 percent of high school and 78 percent of college students spend lots of time on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc…. 

Students may be enjoying the time on technology and checking social media while they may be wasting their time studying for an exam or test. Falling behind in school because of social media can lead to stress or overthinking. Overthinking is when you have thoughts running through your mind thinking you won’t get everything done or thinking everything has to be done. 

Last but not least, oversharing is another effect on youth and also people with social media, too. Oversharing is where you share private information like home addresses, bank accounts, relationship life, and many more personal information, with strangers on social media.

 

We often tend to overshare when we want to connect with people or we’re just too lonely. According to Medium.com, “A study has found oversharing increases with age, research of 17 to 84 year olds found older people are most likely to share information than their younger counterparts.”  

On the other hand, social media can have a positive side effect on the youth. For example, it is important to communicate with family and friends from around the world. It can help young adults find friends who share the same interest as you. 

Sarah Chami, an eighth grader at Unis, explains her thoughts on social media. “It is important to interact with people safely and find or look at new things going on around the world. But it can sometimes become too much when it comes to comparing yourself to other people which have very negative effects.” 

To sum it all up, I think that social media can cause lots of negative impacts on youth. It can lead to bullying, exposure to private information, mental health problems, and many more. There could be positive side effects on social media, however. What do you think is the appropriate age for children to have social media?

Fatme Aoun

8th grade Journalism