Teens and Social Media. What is the problem with teens' behavior and social media? The answer lies in the amount of time and stress teenagers put into social media. Dr. Ellen Selkie, a professor of adolescent medicine at the University of Michigan, researches adolescents’ use of social media. She says that social media is like food, “something we all need because of the way businesses run, because of the job market — and for teens it’s the way they socialize.”
Social media is also like food because, just how we work on controlling our weight and eating healthy, humans need to use social media in moderation. According to Mrs. Summerville-Miller and many other adults, teens today are much more stressed than they used to be before social media.
So, in short, teens are stressed out by social media. The root cause? The negative pressure on social media and the fact that they use social media in excess.
I addressed teen stress by going straight to the source: teenagers. I sent a survey to the students of Magnificat High School. I then presented the findings of my survey in a brochure during my 5 wellness workshops. These workshops included meditation, mindfulness, and, of course, food. My goal is to educate teenagers about the effects of social media as well as help my peers to relax and take a break from the stress of social media and school.
After my Gold Award, I hope to see my friends spending their time more wisely. I will know I have made a positive impact on Magnificat High School because I will be able to see it in my peers. I hope that, when they are more educated about social media's pros and cons, the students at Magnificat High School will focus on spending their time on and off of social media wisely. I hope to see improved positivity and optimism in my fellow peers after I complete my retreats.
Millions of teens are active on social media sites every single day. Why does this matter? A teen from Los Angeles, California is able to connect with a teen in Bejing, China with complete ease.
In other words, our entire world is united under a communication network referred to as social media. Although social media provides an excellent method of communicating, many teenagers are experiencing negative consequences caused by their overuse and abuse of social networking.
My goal in my Gold Award is to research the global impact of social media and bring it down to the local level in order to really change the world. I am just one person, but if I start small and try to change my local community, then I am changing a part of our world.