Social Media Can Trigger Bad Behavior

Commentary by Keymani Dyer. Image by Socialchamp.

Social media can affect teens' mental health positively, but I believe it's mostly negative. Social media mostly has a negative effect on Gen-Z because kids stay on social media day and night seeing new things that they like that encourage bad habits, such as drugs, lack of sleep and in-person social interaction, foul language and misinformation. Some parents try to teach their kids head on that social media is dangerous and can cause laziness, social anxiety, depression, and addiction.

An article titled, ‘Social Media's Impact on Our Mental Health and Tips to Use It Safely’ states how, “social media leaves access for any kind of behavior to go on such as cyberbullying and spreading hurtful rumors, lies, and abuse that can leave lasting emotional scars.” Social media culture can encourage risky and inappropriate posting behavior. A new study suggests that, “social media can affect brain development and the need for self-identity and belonging, peer pressure and long-term stresses that encourage teens to engage in risky behavior. Additional research with British and Italian young adults highlighted that high self-monitoring—or adapting behaviour in line with perceived social norms—was equally predictive of posting risky content.”

A solution that could possibly help address these issues is to create more enhanced parental controls, including strict data privacy standards. In addition, I believe that the government can improve time limits that include notifications.

Keymani Dyer is a freshman at Friendship Collegiate Academy.