ENG101Cause or Effect Essay (linked with Proposal Essay)IntroductionYou will spend the next two essays (Essays 3 & 4) exploring an issue that you find important. This topic may be small, like food cho

Tracy Hudson

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ENG 101

27 March 2017

The Damaging Effects of Teens and Social Media

This past Christmas, my daughter, who is thirteen, got her first cell phone as a gift. I thought this would be a good thing for her to use for school projects, study with friends, and for emergencies. Over the last few weeks, I started to notice that she was in her room incessantly from the time she got home from school until bedtime. After more investigation, I discovered that she was on social media constantly. At first, I decided to allow this because she was making more friends at school and coming out of her shell. Then, she started asking me questions about contraception and different kinds of drugs. I immediately started to panic. Without delay, I did a basic search on teenagers using social media and was shocked by what came up. Without intervention and education, social media is causing many of our teens to have sex and do sexually explicit acts more often, they are more inclined to try drugs and alcohol, and they are more likely to develop depression and anxiety leading to a multitude of other issues impacting all of society.

The negative effects of social media on teens can be detrimental and forever life changing. If parents do not come together with their children along with educators and other people involved, all of us will be affected. Child psychologist, Catherine Steiner-Adair points out in her book, The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age, by stating that “research suggests that the process of tapping a screen or keypad and engaging with the screen activity may itself be rerouting brain development in ways that eliminate development of essential other neural connections your child needs to develop reading, writing, and higher-level thinking later” (79). This statement validates effects are not just immediate. They can last for the lifetime of the individual. These effects can wreak havoc on everyone involved. Social lives, college, and future jobs are just a few things that can suffer.

First, social media may promote sexual activity among young children at an early age. Sending nude images or explicit messages, also known as ‘sexting’, is a popular activity for middle and high school aged children. Many teens and ‘tweens’ are sending these provocative photos and videos to each other and any other people who view their sites. This can include other classmates, children from other nearby schools, and essentially, the worst-case scenario - child predators. These images can be retrieved easily and posted on pornographic sites. This even includes popular social media sites, such as Snapchat or Burn Note, that promise the image will disappear or be deleted after so many seconds upon opening. Another assertion from Steiner-Adair that supports this is when she states “the proliferation of increasingly sadistic online pornography has resulted in a violent, vulgar sexual culture and sexual addictions that are robbing young people of opportunities to form genuine, caring relationships,” which is covered extensively as well in chapter six of her book (165). Not only is this a monstrous problem with child predators and the child’s reputation, in addition, these teens do not realize their illicit images are considered crimes and punishable by law in most states. Our teens can be convicted as sex offenders for child pornography and keep that record their entire life proving problematic for college admissions, future jobs, and relationships.

Secondly, a dreadful effect of social media is the promotion of drugs and alcohol towards teens. According to The National Center on Addiction in the article, “2011 National Teen Survey Finds: Teens Regularly Using Social Networking Sites Likelier to Smoke, Drink, Use Drugs,” it shows statistically that teens using social media are three times more likely to use alcohol and two times more likely to use marijuana. These teens are seeing other children their age on social media sites depicting fun while using drugs and alcohol. This can be very enticing and encourage them to experiment as well. This use of alcohol and drugs leads to increased substance abuse issues in teens. The naiveté of these teens may cause alcohol poisoning, over-dose, and death, consequently, impacting society with rising healthcare costs and crime.

Lastly, one more ill effect of social media is a substantially higher number of teens with depression and anxiety. As stated before, this effect will also lead to higher healthcare costs. Words like cyber-bullying and body-bashing come to mind. Teens look for ‘likes’ and other forms of attention on social media from their peers. They post a picture or message and await replies from each other or large groups. Sometimes, cyber-bullies will post derogatory messages about the post or spread mean rumors to others with intentions of damaging the victim’s reputation by humiliation or harassment. None the less, it is well-known how cruel children can be to each other. Sometimes, someone is left out or purposely made fun of for all eyes to see. Unfortunately, this can cause deep depression or anxiety and eventually may even lead to suicide.

On the other hand, critics state that social media is an incredible thing for children of all ages. They can reach more people around the world, share ideas with larger groups of people with similar interests, and expand their learning potential. In the online article from CNN, “The Upside of Selfies: Social Media isn't All Bad for Kids,” Kelly Wallace interviews parents and teens who argue that social media has helped them. They talk about teens posting selfies on social media and how a lot of the comments to these posts are very encouraging, which can help them to gain better self-esteem and self-confidence. On the flip side, what if they get negative comments or no comments at all? This causes an opposite effect; therefore, their self-esteem and self-confidence is lowered leading to depression and possibly suicide. That being said, it is very true that social media can be a great thing for teens but, the negative effects still prove to be much worse for everyone if not monitored properly.

Ultimately, social media can definitely be harrowing for teens, their families, and society. Our teens can easily slip away from us, whether it be through sex, drugs, mental disorders, or even death. Furthermore, society will have higher healthcare costs, more crime, and a multitude of other problems. With all of the evidence mentioned above, clearly, the effects of social media can be horrific and almost limitless in the present and in the future for all of society. Fortunately, by spreading the word, proper education, and intervention, we can help stop these effects and properly warn our children of the devastating outcomes of improper social media use.

Works Cited

PR, Newswire. "2011 National Teen Survey Finds: Teens Regularly Using Social Networking Sites Likelier to Smoke, Drink, Use Drugs." ["srvy-teen-online-risk"]. PR Newswire US, 24 Aug. 2011. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bwh&AN=201108240001PR.NEWS.USPR.DC55503&site=eds-live.

Steiner-Adair, Catherine. The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age. New York, HarperCollins, 2013.

Wallace, Kelly. "The Upside of Selfies: Social Media Isn't All Bad for Kids." CNN Wire, 11/21/2013. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=BAQ41384959575&site=eds-live.