Social media has a strong hold on people, especially high school students. Teens spend hours mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, posting on their stories, and liking other people’s posts. Social media has consumed the brains of students. According to NEWS10 ABC, the average use of social media for teens is 5-7 hours a day. Social media has a drastic effect on students.

Social media can be very harmful to students.  “Most teens nowadays don’t realize that the things that they are posting may be harmful to others,” said Luke Norton, a junior at Alton High School, “ They may take it as a joke while others may take it seriously.” Students participate in social media trends or sayings and don’t realize that they can be harmful. 

There are many social media apps that are used by high schoolers. Norton says that Snapchat is the worst app for teens to use. He claims that it is the easiest way to get a hold of someone and mistreat them. Having such easy access to someone can be harmful. With many social media platforms, contacting someone has become an easy task for many.

Internet usage outside of school also affects what goes on inside of school. When students are cyberbullied, fights can break out, or students become depressed and stop doing their schoolwork. Norton says, “Students don’t care what they say if they are hiding behind a screen.” Social media has greatly increased the issue of cyberbullying. When students start having problems outside of school, it can affect things in school, too.

Most high school students tend to agree that social media affects teens’ mental health. Kristina Castelli,a sophomore at Alton High School, says, “I definitely think social media affects high schoolers’ mental health because social media can be very toxic. Especially on apps like Tiktok and Instagram.” Castelli followed up by saying, ”many teens compare themselves to other people based on their success, popularity, and looks.” Social media can allow people to create a highlight of their lives. When students start seeing their classmates’ posts, it affects their mental health.

 With all the bad that comes from social media, there is a lot of good, too. Castelli stated, “You can talk to a lot of friends on social media. You can post the good things that are happening in your life, and you can connect with people. Social media can be very helpful and harmful at the same time.”

Social media is a new source of information, communication, and entertainment but it is also very damaging to teens. It affects students by making it hard to pay attention in class and connect with the world. Overall social media can be a very strong source of negativity for high school students.