Picture this: It’s 2013, you’re ten years old and you just got home from fourth grade. You put your backpack down, and you go ride bikes around the neighborhood with your best friends. It starts to get dark, so your mom calls you in for dinner. After dinner, you finish your homework and sit down to watch an episode of iCarly. 

Now picture this: It’s 2020. Most of the fourth graders you know already have iPhone 11s. They are on every social media platform there is, already learning to compare everything they own to so-called “perfect” social media influencers. Instead of watching Disney, Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network, they are on their phones for hours on end. 

Social media is damaging society. Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and TikTok are causing teenagers to lose sleep, lose confidence, and are even causing depression. Comparison is one of the most toxic traits to acquire. Seeing Instagram models show off their perfect lives and bodies can be detrimental to your mental health. Seeing this as teenagers is bad enough, but imagine being even younger. Is this the society we want to raise our children in? 

That said, there are positives to social media as well. Many teenagers feel as though they cannot express themselves in real life, so the internet is their platform for creativity. Staying in touch with lifelong friends, spreading social awareness and kindness and showing highlights from their lives are just a few of the positive things social media can do. 

Although there are many positives to social media, don’t you think the negatives overrule? Although spreading kindness and staying in touch with friends can be done through social media, you can do this without a screen. If we continue to let social media overtake every aspect of our life, we will never just live without the worry of missing a tweet, post or Snapchat. Is this the pattern you want to keep for generations to come?