Gesselyn Beleche
Marc Dowd
Language Arts
3 March 2023
Editorial social media:
How many hours do you spend on social media? Social media can affect teens and
children in many ways, according to lifespan.org: some teens ages 13 to 18 spend an average of
almost 9 hours a day on social media; 8–12-year-olds also spend an average of about 6 hours a
day. Social media can become addictive at times especially with video games, when you win a
video game your brain gives a dose of dopamine which makes you want to play more. But social
media can also mess with your mental health as well, causing you to have social anxiety mainly
because it reduces your social skills because of the lack of socialization with real people instead
of just talking to someone over the phone.
Social media can also cause depression and anxiety by overusing it, especially with some
of the negative things you see online. Some teens also experience cyberbullying which can also
cause it too. A lot of teens and children are also exposed to things that are not Age-appropriate
which can impact their behavior, as well as unrealistic beauty standards, that can cause teens to
compare themselves to models and celebrities and make them feel like they need to photoshop or
use a filter because they feel they cannot meet the beauty standard. Using social media can also
impact your sleep as well. When someone uses their phone before they go to bed with a bright
screen it can delay circadian rhythms by 1.5 hours which can surprisingly contribute to
depression.
As claimed by StopBullying.org: 25% of teens are bullied, and 43% are bullied online 9
of 10 LGBTQ students have experienced harassment online and in school. Teens who are Obese,
or have a disability are more likely to be bullied than other kids. 58% have not told their parents
or a trusted adult about something hurtful or mean that has happened to them online. %5.4
million children would rather stay home than go to school for fear of being bullied.
Being on social media for hours also affects you physically because being on your phone
for long periods of time decreases physical activity which can lead to lots of things. A lot of the
time it is not always children and teenagers, it can be adults too, some might work through their
phones, and others might just be on social media. The parents might not give their child enough
attention because they might be too busy or are just glued to their phones. In the article “Does
Technology Make Us More Alone” By “The New York Times” it states, “Madalyn Shared, “My
mother is always staring down at her smartphone, never listening.” This shows that it can also
impact adults.
Citations:
1. Dalomba, F., About the Author: Frances Dalomba, Author:, A. the, Team, L. B., Herren, J. A., &
Paccione-Dyszlewski, M. R. (2022, March 1). Pros and cons of Social Media. Lifespan. Retrieved
March 3, 2023, from https://www.lifespan.org/lifespan-living/social-media-good-bad-and-ugly
2. Clark, M. (2020, December 9). 40+ frightening social media and Mental Health Statistics.
Etactics. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://etactics.com/blog/social-media-and-mental-
health-statistics
3. Gonchar, M. (2016, October 14). Does technology make us more alone? The New York Times.
Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/learning/does-
technology-make-us-more-alone.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Flearning-student-opinion
4. Atske, S. (2020, August 28). Teens' social media habits and experiences. Pew Research Center:
Internet, Science & Tech. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/11/28/teens-social-media-habits-and-
experiences/
5. Mohiuddeen, Z. (n.d.). The Beauty Industry: Social Media's unrealistic beauty standards. The
Phoenix. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from https://fhsphoenix.org/the-beauty-industry-social-
medias-unrealistic-beauty-standards/
6. How using social media affects teenagers. Child Mind Institute. (2023, February 20). Retrieved
March 3, 2023, from https://childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/
