Social Media Effects On Adolescents

The adolescence stage in a person’s life is all about finding themselves. These years are when you break away from your parents beliefs and begin to form your own. Adolescents now decide what type of person they want to be. Adolescents build their character through what they see in their family, friends, the television, and in this day and age, what they see on social media. Technology is a material part of many cultures around the world; it brings social media, cellphones, and many communication apps along with it. “Children ages 13-18 spend six hours and 40 minutes a day, on average, with screen based media, with almost half of that taking place through mobile device” (Hanes, 2015). All of these interacting tools keep adolescents connected …show more content…
In other words, adolescents feel that no one understands them and no harm can come their way. On social media adolescents feel that they can do or say anything without having to face the consequences of their actions. This leads to cyberbullying, which can lead to suicide, the second-leading cause of death of people 13-19 years old (Mantel, 2014). The personal fable can relate to the story of Amanda Todd who committed suicide at fifteen years old. She felt no harm in sending nude pictures through a chat sight to a guy she had recently met online. She felt nothing could go wrong until those same pictures surfaced everywhere. This is a prime example of feeling protected from harm. The kids online and in her school physically and mentally bullied her, which lead to her suicide. These kids didn’t stop to think that Amanda is a person too. That thought of I’m unique or different common in adolescents makes them forget to think about how other people are unique and different too. Actions like having no regard for people’s feelings or the possible consequences of certain behaviors can be a very negative effect of technology use in