Have you ever heard your parents say, “You know, we never used social media to look things up or watch videos?” Our parents say that all the time, and they’re right. It’s hard to imagine how life would be if we weren’t able to make a video or watch influencers create them. But we cannot deny that with all of these benefits comes great responsibility.
“Social media for me is like Pandora’s box,” said one Upper School staff member. “When you open Pandora’s box, there is a lot of good and a lot of bad that can come.”
According to Yale Medicine, “exposure to social media can overstimulate the brain’s reward center and, when the stimulation becomes excessive, can trigger pathways comparable to addiction.”
Many times people do not even realize their addiction to social media.
“Social media takes so much time away from you without even realizing it,” said the staff member. The authors of this article agree. We think that social media can get addicting in a heartbeat. As soon as we got Snapchat, it was difficult to control the amount of time we spent on it.
Another problem with social media is that excessive use has been identified as a sleep disrupter. This can cause sleep disorders and other health-related issues in adolescents. “Social media makes me lose sleep because when I sleep next to it, I feel tempted to look at it and, once I look at it, I can never get off,” said Natalia Bracamontes ‘29.
However, this does not mean that all social media is bad. “I believe social media is good in moderation,” said the staff member.
Eighth grade history teacher Mrs. Scurtis agrees. “It’s a great way to keep in touch with your people that you may not see all the time,” she said.
Social media can also help students stay informed. Chloe Pierre ‘29 is one student who uses social media to find information. “I use TikTok the most because it is useful,” she said. “I think that it teaches me things that I wouldn’t learn in school.”
Mrs. Scurtis also recognizes its usefulness. “It’s an excellent source of news and information,” she said, “but I think that anyone that is using social media for that purpose needs to learn the difference between accurate information and people who have a different agenda.” When using social media for news, students need to be careful.
Clearly, navigating social media can be tricky, so we believe it is important to begin at the right age. One Upper School staff member believes that eighth grade might be a good time to start. However, she recommends that when students are given access to these apps it should be “with moderation.”
And the “right age” has always been a tricky question. Research shows that about 40% of children accessing social media are 8-12 years of age, but this does not mean that social media is appropriate for all children. The “right age” for different families might not be the same. So many factors need to be considered. It is important to look at the maturity level of one’s child, to note the people she communicates with, and to know what interests her. We recommend having clear conversations with one’s child about the responsibilities of using social media before making the decision.
Overall, social media is a huge part of our lives, but it can be harmful in many ways as well. If we were parents, before giving our children social media, we would want to make sure they could handle it responsibly, and we would definitely put screen time on their phones.
