Social Media

First off, I'm sorry I will link it next time to make it more convenient for everyone. Secondly, yes I agree school could be a huge factor in the growth of these traits as well. But it's more than just a coincidence that these traits for teens are becoming more prominent as social media grows more popular. Bullying is a massive problem in our world today and often causes depression and worst of all suicide. Bullying is prominent in schools, I get what you are saying there, but with social media, others can go even more behind people's backs and spread rumors like never before. I have had first-hand experience with this, my friends don't often use social media. But once my friend got Instagram and learned that people at our school had been spreading intense rumors about her in comments. They knew that she had not been on it before, so they didn't even bother to hide it. This caused her anxiety to peak and she has only come down a little since. Her parents made her delete it within the next few days. Taking away social media will not get rid of this problem entirely, but it will take a huge portion of it out. Cyber-bullying is often underproportioned for what it can do, I am not blowing it out of proportion. Many people think very little of it compared to bullying within schools. Cyberbullying can do lasting harm to anyone who has had it happen to them. The article http://www.bullyingstatistics.org... doesn't just state what I have said before, that it can lead to depression, and suicide. But it also states that when things are posted on the internet, they never actually go away and can be reused by cyber bullies over and over again. This article also states that "Over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online." Considering how many people there are out there in the world, this is a great number. Getting rid of social media will help prevent this. Considering how successful getting bullies to stop is at this point in our society, which is very rare trust me I know, I think this is one of our best options as of right now. Before social media came to be known, there was less bullying, still much more than there should be but less than right now. Social has helped to skyrocket these numbers, causing more and more death to teens. Self-esteem is not as simple as social media did it that is correct, I agree. But I'm not just saying that. With social media, it is even easier to spread VERY photoshopped photos of oneself or another person. Social media is not the one who did this, but the platforms are allowing these photos on and ruining self-esteems. I understand that people should be able to show what they want on their accounts, but if it's hurting someone should they really be allowed to? These issues could be easily seen in schools though it would take a lot more to do this. Yes, you might see a prettier girl in school than you and want to change, but really these people take just as long to get ready as you if you actually listen to them. But on social media, you can't always confirm this. Self-esteem issues, depression, and suicide will not be solved just by taking social media away, but it could be the first step in a long process. If we go down first to the bullies, then they may actually take more to social media and do what they can before they get caught. By taking away social media they will be limited to schools, and people tend not to want to confront someone face to face. Social media has brought many great things to the world, I have even gained some internet friends with it. But I have also found my share of horrible people who are simply looking for trouble. Websites have been able to prevent suicide a lot more, but we also have suicide hotlines for that. I am not saying I am not grateful to these websites for helping so many people, but if we did not have social media we would not need these websites as much. Social media has provided a lot more bad things to my friends who already had depression and anxiety than good. They have taken a downfall, leaving me and my other friends to try and help them back up, even coax them back into therapy. This is also why we have therapists, some people do not like the thought of talking to some random person. But these people are meant to help you, they have the training for it. Social movements have been helped a great deal by social media, but do you remember Martain Luther King JR and his marches? They did just fine without social media and caused one of the greatest social changes in history. In my history class we just recently watched the movie, Selma, about Martain Luther King JR and his work on the town of Selma. The things that they were able to accomplish there without the use of social media and just with their words and letters and announcements they sent out was amazing. Long-lasting friendships developed by social media are amazing, and I personally have two myself. But the option of talking with complete strangers brings about a whole different can of worms that I am going to lightly talk about. This website http://www.chroniclet.com... talks about just one of the dozens of abductions that have been linked with social media. Kids have been proven to feel better about sharing personal information online to people, even when they have been reminded hundreds of times not to. My friend also had a run in with this, nothing happened to her but something could have. One day she was playing around with an app called QuizUp! and suddenly this person messaged her saying "hi." she went to the profile and determined it was a guy (from the looks of it). She responded with a "hi?" already cautious. He asked how old she was (she was 14 at the time) and since she knew that she shouldn't give out the real age she said 13, she was going to show her parents that this guy was talking to her. He responded with "You're too young for me. I'm going to have to stop talking to you now or something bad will happen." Social media has helped to bring about many child abductions, even though some lasting friendships can be made. Another bad thing about social media is the fact that continuous use of it, like 12 hours a day, like every teen nowadays has been linked with lower GPA. Source: http://www.browndailyherald.com... As for your experience, I am sorry that you feel that you are on the cutting edge of depression. But this means that you should get help and medicine. Social media probably won't be able to "cure" you forever. My mother has depression as well, and her medicine does not cure her either, but it helps a great deal.