Stellar Slentz-Baeb

A person on their phone scrolling through Instagram.

The trend of very young children being exposed to social media has become so prevalent that these children now have a name: iPad kids. In an article by Luke Legner it is recommended that the allotted amount of screen time for teens is two hours and under. Five students were chosen at random and asked about their screen time habits. 

All of the students are over the recommended amount of screen time for kids their age (14-16) and most of them have social media. Obviously this doesn’t reflect everyone, but it’s still a problem. Parents working a 9-5 job don’t get much time to spend with their child but some felt as though a solution to this is plopping them in front of a screen. It’s only a bandaid fix which actually worsens brain development, in fact, studies have shown that it hinders academic abilities. Sudheer Kumar Muppalla states in her article “However, studies have shown that excessive screen time and media multitasking can negatively affect executive functioning, sensorimotor development, and academic outcomes. Early screen exposure has been associated with lower cognitive abilities and academic performance in later years.” 

Not only do screens hurt academic performance, content on social media can be harmful to teens causing things such as cyberbullying. 

Cyberbullying is another problem that has been around since the beginning of social media. It can be as simple as a ‘joke’ for example, name-calling, or it can be as bad as harassment. The impact of cyberbullying is more harmful than traditional bullying. In this article by Debra Carr it says “Social media platforms, while providing connectivity, have become breeding grounds for cyberbullying, imitating violent acts, and promoting unsafe activities.” Cyberbullying is easier to report, all it takes is a couple screenshots to hopefully solve the problem. In a research article by Erin Peebles she states “With cyberbullying, there is no clear authority, and children express reluctance to tell adults for fear of losing computer privileges or being labeled as an informer.”  If a person is too afraid to stand up for themselves or if you know someone who is being bullied and/or cyberbullied, stand up for them, it can be as simple as SafeVoice or a visit to a counselor. 

Body image and self esteem are other problems that have increased due to social media. Teens look at models on Instagram and start to feel less comfortable with themselves to the point it becomes an unhealthy obsession to be ‘perfect’. In an article ‘The Social Dilemma’ it states, “In the past, teens read magazines that contained altered photos of models. Now, these images are one thumb-scroll away at any given time. Apps that provide the user with airbrushing, teeth whitening, and more filters are easy to find and easier to use. It’s not only celebrities who look perfect—it’s everyone. When there’s a filter applied to the digital world, it can be hard for teens to tell what’s real and what isn’t, which comes at a difficult time for them physically and emotionally.” As teens grow up with these unrealistic beauty standards and turn into adults, they desire to be perfect and get plastic surgery. Stated in an article by The Dean Hope Center, “In recent years, plastic surgeons have seen an uptick in requests from patients who want to look like their filtered Snapchat and Instagram photos.” Social media actually has close relation to mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. Also stated in ‘The Social Dilemma’ article “According to the Pew Research Center, 69% of adults and 81% of teens in the U.S. use social media. This puts a large amount of the population at an increased risk of feeling anxious, depressed, or ill over their social media use.” We do the bare minimum to protect children. The anti-aging crisis is another thing caused by social media. From the Best of Sno article by Siena Ferrero it states, “Social media, like all media, glamorizes youth. We have so many influencers in their teens and 20s having cosmetic procedures and further perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards.” 

Social media has its pros, but kids should not be on it. It causes more harm than good and people are doing almost nothing to shield kids from how bad it really is.