Social media become a part of our life. We all use it in one or another way, whether for entertainment or information purpose. Teenagers are the most effected and affected age. We can see many adverse effects of social media on teenager.
Social media has become an undivided part of teenagers’ lives.
Here, teenagers always defend them and argued, i.e., they feel connected when they are on social media.
It became a lifesaver for teens when they felt isolated and lonely during the pandemic.
However, we cannot ignore the adverse effects of social media.
First, we take a look at some optimistic aspects of social media
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Is There Anything Positive About Social Media?
Yeah, of course. Just like a coin has two sides, so does this.
If the usage of social media gone in a right manner it would be a very useful for us and our children.
It will educate us in many ways and keep us aware of the current situation in the form of infotainment.
In another way, it is the new way of learning called edutainment.
That’s why teenagers like to engage with social media. They learn many things in a fun way.
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Social media is a platform to express thoughts and gives the freedom to express thoughts and to connect with the people with same beliefs.
The biggest advantage of social media is that it gives us freedom of speech that we have never had before.
It helps children to create their own thoughts, and beliefs and not to follow others blindly.
Social media gives them the freedom to grow their mind and to think outside of the box.
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As social media gives freedom for words, children feel free to express their emotions and it will increase their confidence level.
They are likely to engage with others, learn to make friends, and acquire respect for them and their thoughts
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Social media is a platform that can create a long list of friends so children feel connected.
They become aware of their personality and behavior.
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They learn how to behave and how to present their words with the proper tone of voice if influenced by the right person.
This all makes them responsible not only digitally but also in real life.
They also learn from others, evaluate, and then adopt it in day-to-day life.
It will become a transformation journey for them.
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Social media is nonstop upgrading itself.
The new generation is also learning new skills step by step together and upgrading themselves.
Social media is very helpful in learning new skills like video editing, photo editing, presentation, and many more.
Thus, they can develop their mindset to be creative and trendy. So, we can say that social media helps them to become skillful and can create their new path.
This kind of attitude makes them unique,
All things around us have two sides, negative and positive.
 it’s all upon us how we see them, what is our point of view and most importantly how we use them. After all these positive effects, we cannot ignore their negative impact on our children.
For that, we have to take care of it and be aware of these negative effects.
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Adverse Effects of Social Media on Teenager
It has been seen that a person who uses social media 7 hours per day is more likely to have been diagnosed with depression and other health issues.
The most adverse effect of social media is on health and body. There are multiple side effects on health if we do not use it wisely.
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Obesity
The study says that children who engage with media for more than 4 hours are likely to increase their weight and become a victim of obesity.
As they use their smartphone the whole day, mostly engage with social media in a relaxing condition with no physical activity.
It increases the chances of their weight gain just because of inactivity most of the time, scrolling the screen and doing nothing.
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Eyesight issue
Whenever they use the screen constantly, there is a lot of stress on their eyes. this makes their eyesight weaker.
Social media is so engaging that the child forgets the time limit of usage and it makes the situation worse.
The blue light from smart phone is harmful for eyes. (The specialist says that there should be a big no for toddlers to use any kind of activity on mobile, or laptop, as the toddler’s eyes are so sensitive to handle the light that comes from the screen.)
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Note- Research published in British Journal of Opthalmology found Covid lockdown has taken a toll on kids’ eyesight.
One in three kids now faces short-sightedness after prolonged screen time and lack of outdoor activity which shows a significant increase in the number of myopic kids.
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Sleep disorder and psychological
young generation upload their stuff regularly on social media.
Getting curious for likes and comments on their uploaded stuff.
They are geared up with their uploaded pictures to receive likes and comments, checking their phone to know how many likes and what comments they receive.
The fear of missing out (FOMO) does not let them feel relaxed.
They feel anxious and stressed if they don’t have enough likes or comments.
They are checking their phones and scrolling the screen even at bedtime. This led them to disturbed sleeping patterns. Â
Additionally, they like to spend time scrolling the reels on social media and forget the time spent on it. the constant bombarding of social media does not allow their mind to rest properly after having a good amount of sleep.
Despite the amount of sleep, they do not get enough quality time which eventually turns into lacking of sleep.
Inadequate sleep can trigger a child to behavioral issues and impact psychologically.
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Body Image
Teenagers on social media worry about being tagged in unattractive photos.
They get trolled for their appearance which is embarrassing and deeply affects their self-worth and self-esteem.
They also feel stressed about how they look when they post pictures, being over-conscious about their looks and clothing.
They feel bad about themselves when they get few likes and comments on social media.
They try to make an impression on others by posting new photos of them. They constantly hustle to influence others by the lifestyle they live.
This all increases psychological issues, along with that they have body image issues.
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Academic Growth
The second most common disadvantage that we can see is academic problems.
Social media directly affects concentration. They distract whenever notification rings and they become curious to know what’s going on on their phone and on social media.
They cannot concentrate on their study.
Their focus is always on the notification bar that encourages them to open the app.
This way their study get affected and grades look to go down day by day.
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Cyber Bullying and Hacker
Cyberbullying is very common on social media.
Because of freedom of speech, many people misuse it.
Comments are being posted sometimes with good or bad intentions that are not in our hands but their effect on the mind is very deep.
But there are many people who post bad comments intentionally, for bullying and harassment.
It is true that bullying makes social media muddy and creepy.
Hacking is also affected badly if children don’t know how to deal with it. It is also dangerous if our children are afraid to tell us about the hackers.
Social media and the internet are full of cons and that puts our children at risk.
The cons are ready to lure on the internet and teenagers are their first priority to make victims.
Sometimes children are lured by scammers, who steal information and data from Phones, and misuse that data.
Cyberbullying can leave scars forever in their mind that can hardly heal.
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Difficulty in compiling with real-world
Social media is a very easy platform to connect with others and make friends but it is all gone virtually.
They are unable to give emotional support as a friend because they cannot be presented in the real world.
A child who is more active on social media faces difficulty in making friends in the real world.
He lost his social-emotional skills (SES). It becomes hard for them to engage with others in their day-to-day life.
This is not good for their emotional health, increases problematic behavior, and is not good for their emotional and mental health as their physical health.
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Affected Cognitive Skill
Constant use of social media affects the cognitive skills of teenagers.
Their creativity and intellect are being affected as there is no time left for them to think out of this all.
Their mind is like trapped in a web that crowding with useless stuff.
They are just passive receivers of information. And after all, they become less intellectual and less creative.
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Adult Stuff
The most dangerous effect of social media is that there are lots of adult stuff and these all are not totally in our control.
Predators are out there to make a profit, and teenagers are soft targets for them.
Porn and sexting are now easily accessible nowadays and it is much more dangerous than ever.
The privacy of teenagers also would be compromised; they are trapped in it and don’t know how to get rid of it.
If you find your child in any kind of tough situation give them your support and find the solution. If you don’t know how then ask for help.
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Mental Health issues
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Study shows that overuse of social media can affect mental health in teenagers and can create psychological and behavioral issues.
From the decade the data shows continuously increased cases of anxiety and depression.
Suicide rates have also increased in the last few years and the numbers are shocking.
Social media is one of the most important factors in these circumstances as they bring a lot of emotional fluctuation in the form of FOMO, comparison, etc.
Many experts believe that the constant use of social media and overstimulation of social networking tend to the nervous system into fight-or-flight mode which makes their mind into alert mode.
As a result, teenagers experience emotional breakdowns, stress, and other behavioral issues.
Many experts argue that teenagers tend to social media when they feel stress and discomfort, and eventually stuck into it instead of asking for help.
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What if social media is used in the right way
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- Who can express their opinion on social media can increase online well-being where one can connect with a large number of like-minded people.
- Those who communicate online effectively have a great self-concept and clarity of their own thoughts and actions.
- If social media is used in the right way it can open the gate to a large community who are willing to grow together and help each other.
- Thus, they can get support and be self-aware.
- Social media gives teenagers the world to explore and experience their own identity in their own space.
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It is all about how you guide your teenager to explore the social media.
It has two sides like a coin, one is positive and the other is negative. We can not eliminate these all or make your teenager to stay away totally from this new generation technology.
But we can spread awareness for it. Give guidance to our teenage children and let them know this all aspects of social media.
Thank you for your time. I hope you may like this article.
If you get value from this article please share it with others.
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