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CennaPapola
Ms.Gardner
H.English10,period4
18November2015
TheCorruptedMindofSocialMedia
Myfellowclassmates,letmefirstaskyouthis,whooutofallofyou,hassomekindof
phone?Computer?Anysortofdevicewhichyoumayaccesstheinternetwith?Imguessingyou
alldo,andyoudontonlyusethesedevicesjustforschoolwork,butforsomekindofsocial
media.Letsfaceit,socialmediaisamajorAchillesheelformostteens.Theaverageteen,
rangingfromthirteentoeighteenyearsold,spendsalmostsevenhoursonsocialmedia
daily.(StephanieHanes)Thatiswhereitstandstoday.Unfortunately,allofthisexposuretothe
worldofsocialmediahasaffectedsomanylivesinanegativeway.Ithasgivenbirthtotheideas
ofstereotypicalracesandcyberbullying,itshapesthewaywethinkaboutourselvesandothers,
itcanleadustoobsession,insanity,jealousy,andsuicide.Themediahastakencontrolofus.

Inthebeginningofitsprime,socialmediawasapositivetoolusedtoconnectpeople
acrosstheworldandtosharerealeventsintheirlives.Therewerenohashtags,stereotypesfor
whitegirls,orYouTubevideosaboutdepressedchildren.Peopledidntobsessoverhowmany
likesorfollowerstheyhad.Politicallythemediawasjusttotellyouhowthepollswereturning
out,notcertainnewschannelstellingyouwhotovotefor,ortovoteforthepersonwhowould
makethebestTV.Today,nothingisrealonsocialmedia.Somepeopleonlypostthebest
picturesofthemselvesthattookonehundredtimestogetperfect.EssenaONeil,asocalled


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InstagramStar,postedaflawlesspictureofherselfinabikini,butsometimelater,she
changedthepicturescaptiontosomethingthatexplainedthat,...thephotowastakenand
retakenoverahundredtimes.(JonahBromwich)Thoughsomepeopleliketopostdepressing
picturesortellstoriesoftheirhorriblelivesinordertogetattention,orsoweallbelieve.

Sowhatcanwedotoendthis?Iproposewestarttargetingthehigherauthorityinthese
youngadultslives,theirparents.Insomecases,parentsareoblivioustoallthesocialmediatheir
childisconnectedto.Theydonottakeprecautionsandmonitortheirkids,andthiscouldbe
becausetheydontknowofallofthedangersthatareoutthereintheworldbehindascreen.We
mustworkhardertoeducateeveryone,butmainlytheadultstakingcareofthevictimsofsocial
mediaabuse.

Ofcourse,thereisneverawaytomakesureanyplanwillworkforcertain.Theplanwill
notworkimmediately,norwillitmoveeveryonetoaction,norwillitmakeeveryonehappy.This
isinevitable.Butthinknotofwhattheeffectcandotoyou,thinkofwhatyoucandotoaffectit.
Thesolutionisclear.Thesolutionisbold.Thesolutionisworthatry.

NowthelastthingIneedisyoursupport.Donotthinkofthisasjustanotherhoaxthat
willnevergointoeffect,becausethecauseisextremelyimportant.Manyteens,children,and
evenadultshavesufferedsomekindofabusefromsocialmedia,AccordingtotheNational
InstituteofMentalHealth,in2012,anestimated2.2millionadolescents...hadatleastonemajor
depressiveepisodeinthepastyearduetocyberbullying.(MelindaRing)Themindisavoidthat


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wishestobefilledwithinformationandcommands.Theproblemisthatitcannotalways
determinewhatinformationisthetruthorjusteyecandy,aliethatyourmindjustwantsto
believeandabsorb.Thisiswhywebelievewhateveryonesaysaboutus.Wemusttaketheselies
andexposethem.Wemustdothisbymovingmyplanofeducationtoaction.Nolongershallwe
allowthemediatocontrolourminds.Together,thekids,theteens,theadults,muststrivefora
better,saferformofsocialmedia.Itisnothorrible,butlikeanything,itcanbemisused.Ican
promiseyou,butonlywithyoursupport,wecanandwewillchangethistyrantforthebetter.
Changeitfromanantagonisttoaprotagonist.Wecanconvertsocialmediabacktoitsformer
glory,backtothewayitwasmeanttobeused,asanhonestandsafewaytocommunicate,share,
educate,andenlightenallthepeopleoftheworld.


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WorkCited
Bromwich,Jonah."EssenaO'Neil,InstagramStar,RecaptionsHerLife."
TheNewYork
Times
.N.p.,3Nov.2015.Web.11Nov.2015.
Hanes,Stephanie."AverageUSTeenWatchesNearlySevenHoursofMediaDaily."
ChristianScienceMonitor
.N.p.,3Nov.2015.Web.11Nov.2015.
Ring,Melinda."TeenDepressionandHowSocialMediaCanHelporHurtCNN.com."
CNN
.CableNewsNetwork,n.d.Web.17Nov.2015.