Negative Impacts Of Social Media On Teens

by

This blog highlights negative Impacts of social media on teens

Today teenagers are highly influenced by social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Research by Pew Research Centre highlights that almost 50% of teenagers acknowledge using the internet constantly. Teens can spend hours utilizing these sites and applications because they are so addicting. On an average, teens use social media for seven hours and twenty-two minutes a day, as per Common Sense Media research. It may harm identity development, mental health, psychological well-being, physical fitness, and academic productivity.

Impacts of social media on teens

(This video briefly addresses that “how social media influences the mental & behavioral health of children age 13 to 17”)

Identity development

Teens on social media idolize different personalities and want to be like them. They standardize their ideals’ activities and seek validation and acceptance accordingly. They admire celebrities so blindly that they also imitate celebs’ unethical activities. For instance, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study stats that “adolescents (teens) are heavily exposed to references to cannabis (drug) in popular music, and this exposure is associated with cannabis use among adolescents.” Imagine, if self-identity in teens depends on the number of like they get on a post, then they are never going to be satisfied by their personality as there will always be someone getting more likes than them.

Mental health

Social media reportedly has been a platform to be used for cyberbullying as teens are exposed with cyberbullying very often on this platform. There are numerous cases where teens have experienced cyberbullying on social media including online bullying, body shaming and harassment. As per PEW Research Center 2022 report, about half of U.S. teens from age 13 to 17 has experience at least one of six cyberbullying behaviors. Cyberbullying troubles mental health of teens when they go through hurtful comments, rumors, and threats. It ultimately causes anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.

Psychological problems

These days, usage of social media is increased and has become addictive for teens. They keep checking their accounts and are curious for how much engagement they get on their account. Despite being persistently online, number of teens has claimed to have feeling of loneliness. As per study published in the journal Lancet, “27 percent of the teens who frequently used social media reported high psychological stress.” Online connections has decreased face to face interaction which has result to social isolation.

Physical health issues

Social media has significant impact on the physical health of teens especially due to increase of screen time and decrease of physical activity. Excessive use of social media causes numerous physical health issues like eye strain, headaches, and poor eye strain and poor posture. Moreover, teens spending high time on social media use are less likely to participate in physical activities which ultimately results to a sedentary lifestyle. Study by BMC Public Health illustrates that there are more chances for teenagers to have sedentary lifestyle because of their high use of social media.

Academic performance and productivity

Another drawback of social media is that it decreases the academic performance and productivity of teens. Social media shifts teens’ focus from studies to entertainment. They spend their precious time watching YouTube and scrolling TikTok instead of spending time on studies. As per research 2023 published by University of Delaware, “The prolific use of social media has been one factor identified as having a potentially negative impact on achievement outcomes.” Social media consumes the productive time of teens which could have been devoted to studies. In result, students end-up with poor academic performances.

Measures to prevent negative impacts of social media on teens

Education and awareness

Teens require education and awareness about social media usage, and schools and communities can play a major role in this regard. They can teach teens about positives and negatives of social media. Teens are to be guided with responsible online behavior including time management and privacy settings, so that they can avoid wasting time and cyber harms. Along with that, teens need to be educated about the importance of physical activities and critical thinking. The proper education can make teens to understand the importance of physical world and lead them to reduce screen time.

Parents’ role and responsibility

Parents may play vital role in controlling teens’ involvement on social media. First, they can use the monitoring apps to limit teens’ screen time just by modifying some account settings. Second, parents have to set clear rules and boundaries for teens that when can they use social media and how much is enough time to be on screen. Last and most important step is to lead by example, parents should reduce their social media engagement by themselves to set example for teens. These steps can help parents to reduce teens’ excessive use of social media.

Encouraging healthy habits

Teens should be encourage for healthy habits. They must be facilitated with offline activities to distract their attention from social media. For instance, there should be grounds and parks in colony for teens to play sports and physical activities. This may work as a substitute of social media by getting engage and entertain through these exercises. Then, teens should have daily routine timetable to discipline themselves by balancing their online and offline activities. In last, they may have mindfulness practices for self-awareness and avoiding stress and anxiety caused by social media. This is how teens’ attention can be shifted from online towards physical activities.

Conclusion

Today usage of social media by teens is increased to its utmost. The reason behind social media addiction is lack of awareness regarding its consequences and less access to physical activities. The more use of social media is causing identity development problems, mental health issues, psychological harms, physical health concerns, and poor academic performance and productivity. Addressing these issues require comprehensive solutions which can help teens to reduce their social media usage. For instance, education and awareness, parents’ role and responsibility, and encouraging healthy habits are few of the effective ways to make teens avoid harms related to usage of social media.

REFERENCES

Brian A. Primack, E. L. (2011, march 1). Exposure to Cannabis in Popular Music and Cannabis Use among Adolescents. Retrieved from National libbrary of Medicine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2881613/#article-aaff-info

Delaware, U. o. (2023, August 2). Social Media Usage Negatively Impacts the Schoolwork of Students from Adolescence to College Research Suggests. Retrieved from Newswise: https://www.newswise.com/articles/social-media-usage-negatively-impacts-the-schoolwork-of-students-from-adolescence-to-college-research-suggests

MONICA ANDERSON, M. F. (2023, december 11). Teens, Social Media and Technology 2023. Retrieved from Pew Research Center: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2023/12/11/teens-social-media-and-technology-2023/#how-much-time-are-teens-spending-online

Roles of cyberbullying, sleep, and physical activity in mediating the effects of social media use on mental health and wellbeing among young people in England. (2019, August 13). Retrieved from The Lancet: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30186-5

The Common sense census: Media use by tweens and teens. (2019). Retrieved from commonsensemedia: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/2019_8-18-infographic_final-release.pdf

VOGELS, E. A. (2022, DECEMBER 15). Teens and Cyberbullying 2022. Retrieved from Pew Research Center: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/12/15/teens-and-cyberbullying-2022/

Xue Cheng, Q. G. (2024, June 27). Association between sedentary behavior, screen time and metabolic syndrome among Chinese children and adolescents. Retrieved from BMC Public Health: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-024-19227-w

FAQs

Teens on social media idolize different personalities and want to be like them. They standardize their ideals’ activities and seek validation and acceptance accordingly. They admire celebrities so blindly that they also imitate celebs’ unethical activities. For instance, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study stats that “adolescents (teens) are heavily exposed to references to cannabis (drug) in popular music, and this exposure is associated with cannabis use among adolescents.” Moreover, these days the criteria for teens is the “likes” and “comments” they receive on their posts. Imagine, if self-identity in teens depends on the number of like they get on a post, then they are never going to be satisfied by their personality as there will always be someone getting more likes than them.
Social media reportedly has been a platform to be used for cyberbullying as teens are exposed with cyberbullying very often on this platform. There are numerous cases where teens have experienced cyberbullying on social media including online bullying, body shaming and harassment. As per PEW Research Center 2022 report, about half of U.S. teens from age 13 to 17 has experience at least one of six cyberbullying behaviors. Cyberbullying troubles mental health of teens when they go through hurtful comments, rumors, and threats. It ultimately causes anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.
Another drawback of social media is that it decreases the academic performance and productivity of teens. Social media shifts teens’ focus from studies to entertainment. They spend their precious time watching YouTube and scrolling TikTok instead of spending time on studies. As per research 2023 published by University of Delaware, “The prolific use of social media has been one factor identified as having a potentially negative impact on achievement outcomes.” Social media consumes the productive time of teens which could have been devoted to studies. In result, students end-up with poor academic performances.
Parents may play vital role in controlling teens’ involvement on social media. First, they can use the monitoring apps to limit teens’ screen time just by modifying some account settings. Second, parents have to set clear rules and boundaries for teens that when can they use social media and how much is enough time to be on screen. Last and most important step is to lead by example, parents should reduce their social media engagement by themselves to set example for teens. These steps can help parents to reduce teens’ excessive use of social media.

1 thought on “Negative Impacts Of Social Media On Teens”

Leave a Comment