Social Media: the Real Pandemic for Teenagers
Cassidy Whalen
Children are joining social media sites at younger and younger ages as the years go on. There can be pros to this, such as school assistance and learning new skills. But, only one thought comes to mind on the topic of young children on social media: this cannot be beneficial to them.
If there’s one thing social media is reputable for, it’s fake news. Children are being fed misinformation left and right by hopping on these sites at such young ages. They are already prey to manipulation due to their trusting nature and innocence.
This can be extremely harmful to the development of a child, as one will have difficulty being able to decipher whether the information is truthful or not. It will leave a child not being able to trust what he hears, whether it comes from a reliable source or not. If social media is going to leave children susceptible to being manipulated with false information, then they should not be allowed on these sites that are used to “occupy” them.
Social media also acts as a distraction. Whether it be from schoolwork, daily tasks, or just simple productivity, social media is a time sucker. Children are especially vulnerable to this due to their short attention spans.
“I cannot get my kids off the phone for the life of me. They refuse to play outside, go for walks, and even hate going to school because of social media. I’ve seen them turn from lively, playful kids into screen zombies. I would have never let them on it if I knew it would get this bad,” said Nicole Barnas, mom of two.
This can leave them scrolling through YouTube or TikTok for hours when they could be outside with friends, learning social skills or doing homework. It is taking time away from pivotal developments that children need to make, which is detrimental to their well being.
“If I could change my past, I would have never joined social media at such a young age. Some days, I’m spending upwards of eight hours on my phone. It deprived me of a real childhood, and I would do anything to get that back,” said Amaya Neuwirth, current high school senior.
It seems as though the majority of the years that are supposed to be peak childhood, are being stolen from a screen. With the pandemic, this is getting even worse.
Children are cooped up in the house and have resorted to spending hours on their devices to go through social media.
“These years were supposed to be some of the best of my life, and I feel like all I did was stare at my phone. I grew up way too quickly because of it. I was already comparing myself to others and trying to change who I was to fit a picture I saw on social media,” said Emma Hicks, a current student at the University at Buffalo.
Comparison is not healthy for young children. They should not be worried about what they look like, and if they need to change to be “prettier” by the standards of the media.
They are presented with ideas that they need to be perfect to be worthy of acceptance in society. Their age is far too young to be subjected to this type of comparison.
Social media is not beneficial to children at a young age. The ones who did join at a young age feel nothing but regret for being so fast to throw out their childhoods.
Children do not need to be spending mass amounts of time scrolling through Instagram, trying to conform to societal standards. Rather, they should be playing outside, getting to know their peers, and learning social skills that are essential to proper development.
Parents out there- try to keep your children off those sites for as long as you can. It will be better for them in the long run.
