Social media damages teenagers lives

We spend a lot of time on social media, especially teenagers. It is a huge part of their life,
and they spend a lot of time on the internet. This is not good for them. Teen’s access social
media way to early. The average age restriction on social media is about 16 years old which
is not without a reason. Some even start using social media as a kid. This is affecting their
childhood negatively. There are several reasons why social media is harmful for them.
Firstly, social media is affecting young people’s self-image. Social platforms such as snapchat,
and Instagram is mainly used by posting pictures by ourselves. young people accessing these
platforms at a young age affects the way they look at themselves. Seeing pictures of perfect
bodies and faces repeatedly inhibitors the way they view themselves. Social media is
creating a beaty standard that shows a perfect appearance. Beauty standards affects
everyone; however, it predominantly impacts teenagers. Even though everyone is beautiful
in their own way, they start noticing everything that is not “perfect”. Beauty standards fools
our brain thinking we are not good enough. Thoughts like “why is my nose like that?” and “I
am so fat” is regular thoughts among teens, which damages their self-confidence.
A big amount of bullying happens online trough social media. This is called cyberbullying.
Since the easy access to internet, bullying is simpler than it was before. Bullying occurs
everywhere, and you’re not even safe in your own house. Harassment, sexual assault and
being left out is easily occurs trough cyberbullying. It is so much easier to humiliate, harass,
and hurt people trough the internet than face to face. Cyberbullying is also much more
harmful than regular bullying, because you can get bullied every single hour, seven days a
week. Teenagers use the internet frequently, which makes them an easy target when it
comes to cyberbullying. Underaged minds is still developing. Therefore, you may take fast
thinking decisions which ends with a negative outcome. Accessing social media at such an
early age, amplifies the risk of someone getting bullied. The effect of cyberbullying is things
such as, not wanting to socialize, which can lead to school dropouts. The consequences are
that teens do not complete their education and ruins their future. It can also lead to suicidal
thoughts and actions.
Social media causes a longer settling time, and lack of sleep. Teenagers are extremely
addicted to social media, and this is screwing up their sleep schedules to a high degree. They
spend a huge part of their day just scrolling on their phone, mostly at nighttime. The blue
light on our phone messes up our body-clock which results in poor quality sleep. A study
done by The University of Glasgow shows that teens who spends 5 hours or more a day on
their phone experiences trouble falling asleep. Some even uses up to about 3 hours. The
main reason why teens spend so much time on their phone before bed is that they do not
want to miss out on anything. The lack of sleep affects their feeling of wellbeing and their
overall mental health. Social media is competition for sleep, even tough they have the time
to get enough sleep, social media is chosen before snoozing in.
To sum it up, social media is a problem. However, teenagers getting social media is not the
main issue. A huge part of the young generation use social media in a good way. But if it’s
affecting your life in a bad way, it is obviously not healthy at such a young age. For instance,
your phone should not be causing bad self-confidence, bullying and lack of sleep.

https://smartsocial.com/post/social-media-jet-lag