In the slideshow presentation, which features excerpts from her book, It's Complicated, Dana Boyd discusses how social media has replaced shopping malls, Drive-Ins, and land telephone lines as outlets where youth could express themselves and have some independence. In general, the aforementioned channels were unsupervised even if there was a pact of trust established between parents and kids. I know from anecdote and experience that some conversations and activities that occurred between teenagers in these venues would not have been approved by parents. I'm sure that was true in 2010 when Boyd published her slideshow, and it's still true today.
The Negative Aspects of Social Media for Youth
In her excerpts, Boyd largely discusses the socializing benefits of social media, which as my memory and experience recall, were its original purpose. As with the kids, I used Facebook to stay in touch with old friends and family when I established my first account in 2008; it delighted me to find more and more of them that I had previously failed to find on MySpace. I thought I couldn't feel more connected, and it felt good to get compliments on posts and pictures, the latter with the caption, "Beautiful!" becoming more frequent. Things started to take a turn for the worse when political views got expressed (my own included), people relied on their phones more and more to "connect," the pandemic hit and it seemed that many of my connections were limited to Facebook posts. A few months ago, I had had enough.
When I think about the youth of today, I cannot imagine that their reliance on social platforms for connection might be the same, perhaps with the exception of school. What worries me after reading CNN's article, "College student recounts her social media breaking point and how she stopped 'scolling mindlessly'," is how Emma Lembke's feelings about social media are likely common given what I remember of teenage girls when I was younger. "How so?" one might ask. Well, in the 1980's, I remember girls being obsessed with their clothes, make-up, how people viewed them, and the list goes on. Just view a clip from the 1980s sitcom, Family Ties (below), to learn the preoccupations of two middle schools back in this decade. As a note, Part 2 and Part 3 are available, too. 😉
"Jen is 13 - Part 1." YoutTube, uploaded by Classic TV Episodes, 19 Aug. 2020,
www.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-on-nzNFpOI.
In CNN's article, written by Andrea Kane, Emma Lembke, aged 20 when the article was published, described a typical experience of many young women today; her initiation into social media began at age 12, the same age that "Jennifer" (played by Tina Yothers) and "Chrissy" (played by Amy Lynne) were in the video above. In the article, Lembke is quoted as saying, " 'I remember seeing all of my friends' attention get pulled away from me ... having their eyes looking up at me, having conversations and (then) getting pulled straight down," she said. And it felt like a drop. ... Each one would spend more and more time getting sucked into their phones instead of spending their time with me in person" (Kane). Lembke went on to describe getting pulled in by notifications from sites such as Instagram and Snapchat and becoming addicted to checking them, much like teenagers were formerly addicted to picking up the telephone or learning the latest gossip at school. Finally, in the article, Lembke expressed wanting to get out but not knowing how; she is quoted as saying, " ' I remember especially feeling really hopeless because as a young person, what are you up against? An entire societal ... norm that says 'Get on social media" (Kane). Even though in previous decades, peer pressure existed to go to parties, malls, speak a certain way, etc., the confines of it were in one's school, neighborhood, or town. Now kids have MANY online platforms in which to feel pressure from. Social hotlines existed in the 1980s and 1990s, but the pressure to join them was not as a great as the insistence to join social media; it also helped that many of these outdated hotlines charged a fee that was significant back then.
As a result of her experience, Lembke decided to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in February 2023 about the effects social media had on her life, urging Big Tech and social media companies to be held accountable (Kane). A clip from her testimony is linked below.
"Youth Activist Emma Lembke Testifies on Online Harms Before Senate Judiciary Committee."
YouTube, uploaded by Accountable Tech, 14 Feb. 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8eGJnc2A1E.
Risks of Social Media for Teens
In addition to the article that featured Emma Lembke's story, another CNN story written by Andrea Kane also discusses the harmful effects of social media, focusing on its harmful outcomes for teens (particularly girls and LBGTQ+ youth). Embedded in Kane's article, This is your brain on social media, is a podcast titled, "The Selfie Effect on Your Brain." In the article, 16-year-old Sky Gupta, daughter of Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is quoted as having said, " ' How people see you, I guess, with social media - you want to put out a good picture of yourself, make it seem like you're like your life is so perfect, even though not everyone's life is perfect,' " (Kane). According to the same article, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued some disturbing statistics in February 2023; the report drew data from fall 2021 and showed that "57% of teenage girls reported feeling persistently sad" and the rate for boys was half that but still alarming at 29% (Kane). The article also reported that slightly more than half of LBGTQ+ respondents reported experiencing poor mental health, and more than one in five had attempted suicide in the past year (Kane). Perhaps these numbers were exacerbated by the pandemic, but they show the risks that teens face when isolated and left largely with social media to interact on. Perhaps the most disturbing findings from the report were that one in three teen girls had seriously considered attempting suicide, and teen boys reported being subjected to cyberbullying more often (Kane). Furthermore, there were greater incidences of sexual violence among teen girls. Sadly, it seems that kids had just found a new outlet for their amoral or antisocial behavior, but this outlet provided social community during a period of mass isolation and has expanded to include numerous applications, all accessible globally. Kids today seem to have many more people to compare themselves to and more places to do it.
What to Do?
Given the positive effects of social media that are attested by teachers, the focus shouldn't be to ban social media in education, but to teach its healthy use. After all, it has been found throughout history that kids will find an outlet for their unsavory behavior, and banning social media will not prevent this. My ideas for encouraging its positive use would be for my colleagues and I to first send out a screener to see what students' social media habits currently are. The screener could include a rating scale, an open-ended questionnaire or a combination of both. The goal would be to find out which platforms they use, the frequency and reasons they use them, who they interact with and what their behavior is. To encourage students to be honest, it would be wise to offer the screener on paper with the option to omit their name. Students would need to be assured that they would not be penalized for information they shared, and only serious issues would be addressed privately.
After gathering data, my colleagues and I would analyze it and determine if it's worth having some discussions around the healthy use of social media. We could have the students view videos, read literature, participate in role plays and more activities; a priority would be creating a safety and respect around the topic, and I would make sure we discussed this first. Perhaps this initiative would be worth launching school/district wide.
Conclusion
In summary there is research that suggests that spending too much time on social media can be toxic for teens. In one CNN article, a college student discussed her obsession with social media platforms and in another, statistics were cited that suggest that teens were at risk for poor mental health, sexual violence, and cyberbullying. LBGTQ+ youth and girls seemed to be at the highest risk, but boys were vulnerable, too. Perhaps the most disturbing findings were that one in three girls had seriously considered attempting suicide and one in five LBGTQ+ had already attempted. However, sexual violence and cyberbullying are not far behind. With the statistics shared by one this article alone, I believe it is imperative to teach healthy use of social media. Our children's health and lives depend on it.
For more information on the impact of social media on teens' mental health, view the videos linked below. The surgeon general's speech is particularly disconcerting.
"How social media influences children ages 13-17." YouTube, uploaded by Children's Wisconsin,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1BpYDkGoAs.
"Surgeon General calls for social media warning labels amid teen mental health crisis." YouTube, uploaded by PBS News,
17 June 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ22Tad3Rwk.
Works Cited
Kane, Andrea. "College student recounts her social media breaking point and how she stopped scrolling 'mindlessly'." CNN, https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/23/health/regulating-social-media-gupta-podcast-wellness/index.html. Accessed 22 June 2024.
Kane, Andrea. "This is your brain on social media." CNN, https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/16/health/social-media-effect-on-brain-gupta-wellness.
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