"I Need That Body." : How Social Media is Hurting Teens
by Billie Littman
“She’s so perfect, why can’t I be like her?”
“I want her body, her boyfriend, her life.”
Social media can put a lot of bad thoughts into your head. Making yourself feel bad because you don’t look like that “perfect person." I think people should use it less, and stop comparing themselves to others.
Social Media is Putting Bad Thoughts into Your Head.
Social Media is putting bad thoughts into teen minds about how they look. According to an article “How Instagram is damaging the self-esteem of women” by Christina Revelli, “A study done by Dove 72% of women feel pressure to be beautiful, and only 4% of women actually consider themselves beautiful.” All the instagram pictures and tik tok shorts of
attractive models, celebrities, and teen women are not helping the situation. What they don’t realize is that all these pictures & videos are unrealistic. These people use filters and apps to fix their flaws.These apps can completely change what a person looks like from
acne, to slimming down parts of their body. According to the article “Studies send mixed
messages on influence of social media on teens” on newsela, “A recent survey found that Instagram and Snapchat are the most likely to cause body-image problems. In particular, young women are at risk. They see endless photos of perfect bodies posted on those sites. Teen girls can feel ugly in
Cited from News ANYWAY comparison." I think this is a horrible thing, people
should start looking at themselves and say, "I'm
beautiful." To be honest, who cares about other people, don't focus on the bad things, think about the good things. Everyone has flaws in life, no one is perfect because perfect isn’t a word.
Social Media is Addicting.
Fun Fact: Did you know that every 6.4 seconds, a new social media account has been made?
Social media is addicting, it has a bad influence and it can get you really hooked.
I interviewed a 7th grader at East Side Community school, a trusted friend of mine. Sonya J. stated that she does get addicted sometimes. “A problem is when you get too addicted. Another thing is on tik tok, when people randomly follow you and it says click this link. People just don’t pay attention, and I also account for not paying attention, or thinking before I like or post something on these platforms.” I completely agree with Sonya about this, you're always finding weird, creepy stuff on social media platforms. I myself get addicted sometimes. From the article “Studies send mixed messages on influence of social media on teens” on newsela,“Many experts say social media can be dangerously addictive, just like drugs or cigarettes. Teens who get hooked find it hard to spend too much time away from social media. Their schoolwork can suffer as a result. So can their relationships and their moods.” This is completely true, social media can be very addicting and that can be dangerous.
Social Media can be Dangerous.
Social media can be dangerous in many different ways, including creeps, dangerous trends and can cause depression. According to the NewsELA article “Studies send mixed messages on influence of social media on teens” “Studies have shown that social media use can have a bad effect on some young people. It has been linked to increased worrying and feelings of depression. I agree I think everything I mentioned earlier in the article can cause depression and can be dangerous.
People who don’t agree with me. I understand where you are coming from, I sometimes deny it as well. “It's not addicting, it's not dangerous,” but it is, It causes stress, depression, and more. It makes you feel like crap. Just admit it, you feel like crap because of it. It's okay you're not alone! In the end it all comes down to you. Stop using it, you're only hurting yourself.
We should limit our social media time, stop using it. It's not necessary, and it is bad for our mental health as well as the environment. We are only hurting ourselves, when we use it.