The Effect Of Social Media On Students

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Haylyn Baker comments on social media in her interview.

Jack Daugherty, Reporter

In today’s society social media is everything. Most people rely on it because it’s their job because they are either influencers or placing ads on social media. About 3.96 billion people use social media and about 58% of that are people of the ages 13 and up. The average student spends about 1 to 4 hours a day on just social media that doesn’t include other activities on their phone. 

When it comes to social media there are a lot of pros and cons. This section is going to list as many pros and cons as possible. The pros mean the good parts of something. So the good part of social media is that it can be used as an educational tool, it can be used as a booster for student creativity, be used as an encouragement for students, and it can be used to endorse student partnership. The cons of social media is that it can be distracting, it can be an irruption in class or in public, it can lead to cyberbullying which that can also lead to suicide, teenagers can also post or see things that is not appropriate for their age, and finally it can stunt the practice of head on communication or better know as face to face interaction.

When four students were asked the questions they all came out in an expected result. They all in some way had the same answer for every question. They were asked questions such as; “Are you attached to social media?” “Does social media help with your confidence level?” 

The first student to be interviewed was Haylyn Baker. She was asked the most major question of the interview which was “Are you emotionally and mentally attached to the social media you have, and if so why?” This was her answer, “I would consider myself attached to social media because I constantly check my feed or whatever it’s called because I always want to know what’s happening. Why I think I do this is because of how much time I spend on social media and how much I like seeing what’s happening in the world as well.” 

The second person to be interviewed was Kullen Christman. Kullen says, “I honestly would say I’m attached to social media because it gives me something to do in my free time or to pass time. But at the same time I wouldn’t say I’m attached because it’s not the first thing I do in the morning or before I go to sleep.” This quote shows a little less caring for social media. It also shows how this particular student uses social media as a past time in his life instead of a crutch.

The third person interviewed was Logan Hart. Logan’s  answer to the question was, “I would not consider myself attached to social media because I really only use it to stay in touch with my friends or if I am in a relationship. But other than thought I really never use social media.” This was a different outcome to the question because he says that he only uses social media to stay in touch with friends.

The final person to be interviewed was Shelby Epperly and she  answered with, “I would definitely say that I am attached to social media because it helps me feel better about myself which is a major pro and plus its enjoyable but the also a major con is that it can shatter your confidence in yourself. But besides that I think social media is great.” This answer is a unique answer because it shows that she uses social media as a crutch but she also uses it as a pass time. It’s also healthy that she uses it to stay in contact with people or with her friends.

Now for the real question. What is the effect of social media on students? According to an article from the NEA (National Education Association) they say that, “95% of teens use a smartphone, and 45% say they are online almost constantly. About 70% of teens are on Snapchat and Instagram, while 85% are on Youtube.” And according to Jean Twenge, who is a psychology professor at the San Diego State University, she said that “We have found that teens who spent five or more hours a day online were 71 percent more likely than those who spent less than an hour a day to have at least one suicide risk factor (depression, thinking about suicide, making a suicide plan or attempting suicide). Overall, suicide risk factors rose significantly after two or more hours a day of time online.” 

As shown in this article, social media has many different effects on many different students and it can all vary depending on their age, grade, academic standing, and finally their mental well being.