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Imre Eigerman

Mr.Smith

Junior ELA

6 November 2023

The Downside of the Digital Age On Adolescents

In today's digital age, the well-being of adolescents is at stake as they increasingly

immerse themselves in the online world, often entranced for hours at a time. Since the start of the

21st century, the internet has taken over society worldwide, with 65.7% of people in the world

being internet users, which is 5.3 billion people. Naturally this means kids are using the internet

exponentially more as well which has led to consequences. The effects on adolescents due to the

increase in the use of the internet is often viewed as a positive because of the advancements in

education, however in reality the intensification of internet usage has had a negative effect

overall on adolescents due its detrimental effect on the health of kids, both physically and

mentally.

The increased use of the internet by kids and teens has led to a decrease in their overall

physical health. In the modern day, there are higher obesity rates in children because of the

amount of time spent on technology. This relationship between amount of screen time and

increased rates of child obesity is explored by the National Library of Medicine “Obesity is one

of the best-documented outcomes of screen media exposure. Many observational studies find

relationships between screen media exposure and increased risks of obesity”. (National Library

of Medicine) Because kids spend so much of their day sitting or lying down while on their

screens they aren't being active and therefore burning much less calories than they are eating

each day. Therefore, they are gaining weight, because they are in a calorie surplus. While kids
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do need to be in a calorie surplus because they are growing at a rapid rate and need to gain

weight, nonetheless, the physical inactivity caused by excessive technology use will make them

gain much more weight in body fat rather than in muscle, healthy tissue or stronger bones that

would be created from physical activity. To these ends, because the amount of time kids are

spending on screens has increased over the past couple decades, kids are not spending as much

time being active as they used to. This is highlighted by Outside Magazine “One billion fewer

hikes, climbs, rides, and other outdoor excursions in 2018 than in 2008. Even kids are staying

inside. Children took part in 15 percent fewer outdoor activities in 2018 than they did six years

before.” (Outside) Because of the increased time kids spend online they spend less time being

active and playing sports, so their physical health decreases. The detonation of internet and

screened technology usage by youths has had a detrimental effect on their physical health, due

the physical inactivity it creates.

The expansion of internet usage in the 21st century has led to the decline of mental health

in teens due to the rise of social media, and the negative effects it causes, such as cyberbullying.

Social media makes teens feel bad about themselves, because they are in a constant state of

comparison with influencers and other kids their age, making them feel less attractive, talented,

and interesting, as stated by Dr. Don Grant ``-social media and teens using these platforms for

comparison have a big downside: It can be detrimental to self-esteem, self-image, and

well-being”. (Newport Academy) When teens scroll through social media, and see the posts of

their peers and strangers alike they will compare their looks/life to their own subconsciously or

consciously and this often leads to them feeling they are worth less. People may claim that if

teens are being upset by their social media then they will just get off it and I will conceded that

this is true in some cases since some teens are able to recognize the negative effects their social
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media is having on them and take a break from it or quit entirely, even so, for most teens, they

cannot just quit social media even if it is making them feel bad, because they are addicted to it,

and/or don't recognize that it is impacting them negatively. In addition to social media being an

adverse factor of the internet, cyberbullying; the use of technology like social media to harass,

threaten, embarrass or target a person has also been a detriment to the mental health and

wellbeing of adolescents. Research from the Pew Center expands upon this belief, stating that

“While bullying existed long before the internet, the rise of smartphones and social media has

brought a new and more public arena into play for this aggressive behavior”. (Pew Research

Center) Bullying is not an invention of the internet, however the internet has intensified it.

Cyberbullying is very harmful because the bully can hide behind a screen, sometimes often

without the victim even knowing who they really are. In addition, cyberbullying can occur

anywhere, meaning that teens can even experience bullying from places that feel safe like their

own homes. This barrage of mal-intended actions online can cause teens to develope anxiety and

depression which can even lead to suicide in some cases. Development of social media and its

booming popularity in teens has led to the consequence of it damaging the mental wellbeing of

teens.

A common viewpoint in opposition to the fact that social media and similar technologies

have been detrimental to adolescents both physically and mentally is is that the internet helps

kids learn and therefore overall the internet has benefited the youth positively. The internet has

led to more programs and applications that help kids learn, which is made apparent by how “87%

of parents of online teens believe that the Internet helps students with their schoolwork and 93%

believe the Internet helps students learn new things”’. (Pew Research Center) It is true that the

internet has helped further education, making it more accessible and more personalized for the
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needs of the individual, however, this benefit is completely outweighed by the drawbacks of the

internet. Furthermore, the internet has made all kinds of school work more easily accessible from

home, and some believe there is no downside to this, however they would be misled to believe

this. School being more easily accessible from home has led to changes in policy from schools.

One being replacing snow days with online classes. “In 2022, the New York Board of Regents

authorized the state’s public schools to teach remotely instead of canceling class on snow days”.

Instead of being able to go outside and enjoy the snow, kids who attended these schools instead

had to sit behind a screen all day long and attend virtual classes. This was not beneficial to these

students whatsoever because it is not healthy to sit at a computer for hours on end, not to

mention for kids that age who need exercise. Therefore it is not logical to claim that the internet

has been beneficial to adolescents since not only has it created major detriments to their health,

but also what are believed to be the positive effects by some are not even completely positive.

The internet has reshaped the world and how it is experienced, even more so for the

young generation who has and is growing up in it, but in truth it has done more harm than good

because of how it has had a detrimental effect on the health of adolescents. The internet may not

be negative in its entirety but its negative effects on the juvenile population have been a rising

issue that needs to be addressed in the modern era.

Works Cited
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Fox, M. (2022, May 12). Is America becoming an indoor nation?. Outside Online.

https://www.outsideonline.com/health/wellness/americans-less-time-outside-2019-study/

Robinson, T. N., Banda, J. A., Hale, L., Lu, A. S., Fleming-Milici, F., Calvert, S. L., &

Wartella, E. (2017, November). Screen Media Exposure and obesity in children and

adolescents. Pediatrics. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5769928/

Atske, S. (2022, December 15). Teens and Cyberbullying 2022 | Pew Research Center. Pew

Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech.

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/12/15/teens-and-cyberbullying-2022/

Gordon, S. (2022, July 22). The Real-Life effects of cyberbullying on children. Verywell Family.

https://www.verywellfamily.com/what-are-the-effects-of-cyberbullying-460558

Sorber, N. M. (n.d.). Are snow days about to get buried by remote learning? Not quite – but it

depends on where you live. The Conversation.

https://theconversation.com/are-snow-days-about-to-get-buried-by-remote-learning-not-q

uite-but-it-depends-on-where-you-live-192825

Staff, N. A. (2023, August 3). Social media comparison and teen mental health. Newport

Academy.

https://www.newportacademy.com/resources/empowering-teens/theory-of-social-compari

son/

The Internet and Education | Pew Research Center. (2020, May 30). Pew Research Center:

Internet, Science & Tech.

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2001/09/01/the-internet-and-education/
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H Argument Essay Rubric

Skill Not Yet Foundational Proficient Advanced

Identifies a basic claim Appears in first Thesis establishes a

Thesis paragraph complex claim

Thesis establishes a Establishes

topic and a claim counter-argument in
claim

Topic sentences Topic sentences have Topic sentences have

Claims/Reasons contain basic claims clear and distinct clear and distinct
claims that relate to claims that relate to
the thesis the thesis and make
nuanced points that
consider alternate
perspectives or
counterarguments

Uses some brief Uses multiple pieces Uses a variety of

Evidence examples, or one of evidence (personal evidence (see
example, to support experience, anecdotes, previous column) that
each claim; may all be survey, research etc.) supports each claim;
personal experience to support each claim different types of
evidence in each body
paragraph

Use of reliable outside

sources

Brief explanation of Explains how Provides strong

Analysis how evidence evidence supports explanations of how
supports topic topic sentence/claim evidence supports
sentence of individual of individual topic sentence and the
paragraphs paragraphs and the thesis while also
thesis considering
counterarguments
Includes at least 2
concessions in body Seamlessly mentions
paragraphs concession, and offers
response/rebuttal

Counter- Makes some mention Structure Well-structured and

Argument of opposing argument counter-argument effective
which: counter-argument
Mentions the which:
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opposing argument, Establishes an aspect

some mention of how of the opposing
opposing argument argument, clearly and
may be disproven logically disproves the
argument
Some elements missing Heading is correctly No errors in MLA
MLA Format or some errors in MLA formatted format
format
Pages are numbered

In-text citations are

correctly formatted (if
sources are used)

Works Cited format:

hanging indent,
double-spaced,
alphabetized, starts on
a new page (if sources
are used)

Works Cited: each

source entry is in
correct MLA format (if
sources are used)
Shows evidence of Quotes are correctly Quotes are correctly
Conventions basic proofreading integrated most of the integrated
time (if sources are
used) Shows evidence of
careful proofreading
Follows essay
organization (claims in Includes fluid
topic sentence; transitions between
evidence; analysis; ideas
concluding sentences)
Eliminates wordiness
Shows evidence of
proofreading

Utilizes mostly simple Some varied sentence Consistently varied

Fluency sentence structures structures sentence structures

Some use of advanced Advanced use of

vocabulary vocabulary; including
use of active verbs
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