Social Media Has More Harm for Teenagers than Goods

Speech on Social Media harms on teenagers

Technological advancements have made our lives easier and better, and in the modern-day, we rely on computers and mobile phones for our daily engagements and tasks. The internet is a big part of technology, and with it comes Social media. Social media has blessed human life with numerous advantages in interaction and connection globally. Teenagers have sparked the growth by using social media as their primary way of keeping in touch with friends, family, and trends of the day. What has been forgotten is the harm it brings, and for the most part, it has been ignored. Regrettably, our teenagers are using social media to the extent that it harms their overall well-being if not monitored or controlled. Thus, today I will express the views that Social media has more harm for teenagers than goods. The negative effects of social media usage should be given the importance its advantages are given. Further, its impacts should be noted in time to avoid further harm to the teenagers. Let us begin by talking about the harm social media brings to teenagers.

Main Point 1

Cyberbullying is the most common harm of social media usage by teenagers. It is the communication of false, hostile, embarrassing, and hurtful information to certain users. Commonly, the vice targets specific users that have shown a difference of opinion from other users, while sometimes it is just sparked by hate or envy. Cyberbullying has become the norm of the day, and teenagers are exposed to online attacks by strangers and friends. In fact, according to a study by Abaido (2020), the rate of cyberbullying is high and growing by the day. It affects teenager’s self-esteem, leading them to isolation, stress, and loneliness. Stress and low self-esteem lead to poor grades, anti-social lives since the victims no longer feel safe to share their problems. Cyberbullying leaves an almost permanent mark in the victim’s life. While social media was created to promote the social life of teenagers, it has destroyed the lives of many through online attacks. I am almost confident that a considerable number of the audience has received at least one online attack, and the feeling is depressing. What is even worse is the lack of effective mechanisms to combat and unravel the bully users and their accounts who orchestrate the harmful and stressful acts. They continue to do so without fear and limit or the thought of the harm it might bring to the other person.

Main Point 2

In the same breath, prolonged social media usage and exposure to cyberbullying leads me to the second intertwined harm, social media depression. It is a widely talked about issue in our lives. Social media depression is the emotional and psychological disturbance caused by social media usage. This happens when a teenager is made to feel inferior and non-important to their social media age mates. Usage of social media has created a need to fit it, stand out, or be accepted by peers. A need, that when negatively reciprocated, leads a teen into depression. Depression has claimed many lives of both teenagers and adults. Social media depression takes away the pride, purpose, and will of a young teen. Making them feel less important to others and seeing no purpose in doing anything meaningful in their lives. Depression leads them to sleep deprivation since they constantly worry and follow what their friends and peers are posting. With a lack of good and healthy sleeping pattern, the teens lose concentration in class and other meaningful life activities. The exposure to depression further exposes the teenagers to other risks associated with sleep loss, such as increased blood pressure, obesity, and heart attack. Besides the emotional and psychological harms, social media usage brings physical harm to the user.

Main Point 3

There are many cases of self-harm and suicidal content associated with social media. Teenagers on the internet can engage in any activity to get attention. The influence of social media is vast, and it tags along with a lot of peer pressure. Given its broad range of reach, when a teen sees another person do dangerous stuff and get attention for it, they will be influenced to do the same. Examples are the numerous pages on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube on a compilation of fail attempts. The people in the videos undertake dangerous acts such as scatting on a busy highway, diving in water from terrific heights, among other dangerous acts that can inflict harm. This kind of behavior may seem simple, but some users end up unlucky and harm themselves. In addition, some user accounts share suicidal methods and encourage other users to engage in such acts in disguise of challenges. Studies have proved suicide to be contagious, and social media can spread it. These types of sharing and encouragement may arouse suicidal behaviors in people that are depressed or have mental health problems.

Conclusion

Today I’ve explained that Social media has more harms for teenagers than goods by elaborating to you the numerous negative impacts. I started by cyberbullying, which is the communication of false, hostile, embarrassing, and hurtful information to specific users. It affects teenager’s self-esteem, leading them to isolation, stress, and loneliness. My second point was social media depression, which is the emotional and psychological disturbance caused by social media usage. The act makes a teen feel inferior and non-important to their social media age mates, creating a need to fit in, stand out, or be accepted by their peers. Exposure to depression exposes teenagers to other risks associated with sleep loss, such as increased blood pressure, obesity, and heart attack. My final point was that teenagers on the internet could engage in any activity to get attention, and the acts include self-harm and suicidal content. I encourage all of us to not only see the positives of social media but its harms too. It is our responsibility to offers solutions to social media harms. We should encourage appropriate, valuable, and positive content in the platforms while taking care of our mental and emotional health. Remember, there is no better time to act on the harms than now.