Notebook Week 6- 2B

The HuffPost wrote an article about the negative effects of Social Media in 2017. The

article states “ Social media has been linked to higher levels of loneliness, envy, anxiety,

depression, narciasm, and decreased social skills.” I personally have struggled with anxiety and

feeling lonely because of social media. Social media can be great! It can help you stay in touch

with friends, family, and to keep up to date on the latest news. But there are also a lot of

negatives to social media. Such as: comparison, feeling left out, and depression.

Teenagers see hundreds of social media posts daily, and we compare ourselves to almost

every post. I personally have struggled with this before. Majority of the time I compared myself

to their bodies, I even went as far to try new diets. The NCBI wrote an article on the dangers of

adolescent dieting. “Teenage dieting can often lead to eating disorders such as Anorexia or

Bulimia.” This scares me to think about the increased amount of eating disorders that are

forming because of social media.

A lot can be done to improve what we see on social media, online, or in movies. Jennifer

Lawrene who has played major roles in several movies, has become an advocate for self-love

and changing the way the world views body types. She has encouraged movie producers to

choose actresses that aren’t a size 000. She said “ They had an opportunity to control the image

that young girls and young women were going to see. Girls see enough of the unattainable body,

subjecting them to unrealistic expectations. Since Katniss Everdeen would be their hero, the

filmmakers should use the film as an opportunity to rid ourselves of the uber-thin body as ideal.”

By changing the characteristics that Hollywood define as obese or beautiful, everybody will start

to feel more confident in themselves. I appreciate the awareness that Jennifer Lawrence has been

spreading.
 Society has created a toxic “perfect body” that is incapable to look like. This has caused

many many people to feel insecure about their appearance. They have turned to crazy ways to

shed a couple pounds. Caring For Kids speaks about how no matter your weight or size you can

still be successful. “​One of the strongest messages you may get is that you should be thin or have

a lot of muscles and no body fat. Images and words send the message that being thin or having

lots of muscles means you are more attractive, happy and in control of your life. But in real life,

people who are happy and successful come in all shapes and sizes.” No matter how you look you

are still capable of being loved, and beautiful.

Not only are diets damaging toward your body, you are restricting your body from food,

fuel, nutrients, and vitamins that it needs to function. The Family & Children Center speaks

about how damaging teen diets are. “​Making matters worse, a new study indicates that teens

involved in extreme dieting - that is vomiting and diet pills to lose weight - are more likely to

drink, smoke, use marijuna, and attempt suicide.” It is so hard to see the effects of heavy and

restrictive diets are doing to teenagers. Diets are a risk, some may work and some may not. But

severe dieting as a teenager can lead to suicide, eating disorders, and actually gaining more

weight.