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Raney Partin
Social media is toxic. I first got Snapchat when I was 12. I didn’t know better so I would just add everyone back. I had grown men trying to flirt with me. I would end up blocking them, but it was scary and could have resulted in something bad.
And, so many girls compare themselves to people they see on social media, and starve themselves or cry because they don’t look like the people they see.
One of my friends explained, “Social media is a toxic environment, because people think that they can post or say whatever they want on social media without consequences.”
Another friend added, “I think social media is toxic because people post rude things on stuff other people post, and it makes others feel bad about themselves and causes people to have anxiety and depression.”
Junior and senior English teacher Mrs. Thomas believes “It’s not going away. Hurtful posts have caused irreparable damage to so many teens, to so many people. It’s easy for me to rarely look at social media, and to ignore negative posts, but that is far from easy for most teens. I really do not know how to deal with this huge problem.”
History teacher Mrs. Tarfuro further explained the problem: “Social media can be an effective tool to keep in touch with family and friends. It can help students stay informed on news or current events. Social media can even be a great outlet for self-expression.
“However, unfortunately, it can be very addictive. Students actually struggle with withdrawal symptoms when they are not constantly checking their phones. I believe they would be shocked at the number of times they look at their phones a day.
“But addiction to social media is the least of our problems. I, and many other teachers, have noticed a marked decline in the attention span of students. A full-length movie or even a video clip longer than six minutes will bore most students. We are now conditioned to watch a video for only a short period and swipe up at the slightest hint of boredom or uninterest.
“One of the most troubling sides of social media is the legal implications involved in simply looking at one's DMs. A few years ago, I had a student fined and charged by the law because their girlfriend 'snapped' some revealing pictures and DMed them. Her mother found the evidence and pressed charges on the student.
“It is shocking how easy it is to get in trouble on social media. Last year, I had students who would take selfies in the bathroom and share the selfies to social media. No big deal, right? Well, they did not notice the other students changing in the background when they snapped those selfies. Again, they were in major trouble for sharing inappropriate pictures. Sadly, this happens all the time.
“We often warn students against online bullying and this is yet another way that students try to hurt each other. Students also use social media to attack teachers and administration. This may not seem like a big deal, but we are experiencing a teacher shortage and social media is a huge component of this problem. Adults also use social media to bully or intimidate. Social media is creating a society where, if we don't get our way, we resort to online intimidation and this is destructive. How will we educate our society if most of the teachers leave? Again, this may sound wonderful until we have a generation uneducated [who are] addicted to their screens.”
So much research backs up the fact that social media is toxic, so toxic that it may lead to death.
Newswise.com reported, “Through annual surveys from 2009 to 2019, researchers tracked the media use patterns and mental health of 500 teens as part of the Flourishing Families Project. They found that while social media use had little effect on boys' suicidality risk, for girls there was a tipping point. Girls who used social media for at least two to three hours per day at the beginning of the study — when they were about 13 years old — and then greatly increased their use over time were at a higher clinical risk for suicide as emerging adults.”
There’s a challenge on TikTok called “The Blackout Challenge” that has allegedly killed seven kids. The website The Verge explains, “TikTok is facing multiple lawsuits from parents who say their children died of strangulation attempting the “blackout challenge,” after the app showed them videos of other people trying it. One suit filed against the company alleges that at least seven specific children died while attempting the challenge, which the complaint says ‘encourages users to choke themselves with belts, purse strings, or anything similar until passing out.’ All the children who reportedly died were under 15 years old.”
In closing, social media could benefit people, but if they are under the age of 15, they shouldn't have it. Social media can be good for expanding a small business or meeting new people, but if you’re young, you could be influenced the wrong way. The social media environment is generally unhealthy and causes people to hate themselves.
I feel like social media is a popularity contest and causes mental health damage. I just don’t care to see people posting every little thing happening in their lives. Some apps were made for kids to have fun and post funny things, but they have turned into something completely different; there are now grown adults on those apps, posting thirst traps. People make dumb challenges that hurt others. Social media has completely changed from what it was made for.