Community Problem Report: Teenagers and Social Media

University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1301

April 14, 2017

Krystal Ramirez
 Abstract

Using social media apps is one of the most common activities teenagers engage in today. With

popular apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Facebook taking over teenagers lives, it is

important for parents to become aware of the social media apps their teenagers use. It is also

important for parents to become aware of the way their teenagers use social media in order for

teens to avoid becoming victims or contributing to cyberbullying, sexting, sexual harassment,

and exposure to inappropriate content.

Introduction

As social media usage has increased tremendously over the past decade, so has its users. Millions

of people use social media every single day, some as many as 9 hours a day. But who are these

individuals who use social media more hours than they sleep? According to Forbes, teenagers

use their cell phones to explore social media an average of 9 hours a day. (2015) In the United

States alone 94% of teenagers say they access the internet on a daily basis through their phone

according to the Huffington Post (2015). Using social media apps on a regular basis has its

negative and positive affects for a growing teenager. This report will discuss how social media

usage affects a teenager negatively as well as positively. This report will also include information

for parents and how to help teenagers use social media in a safe way to avoid the issues that

come with excessive and unmonitored use.

 Statistics of Social Media Usage

The evolution of the internet has grown tremendously over time and is a lot different than it was

20 years ago. In 1995, it was reported that approximately 23,500 websites existed in the World

Wide Web. Today, an estimated 1.2 billion websites exists and that amount is continuously on the

rise. In this particular section of the report, we focus on information provided from an

infographic about teenagers and their media usage from 1995 through 2015. Throughout the last

two decades, many things have changed in the way teenagers communicate with each other and

what they do during their spare time. Teenagers in 1995 were more likely to play outside, talk on

the phone, and spend more time with their friends outside of school than todays generation.

According to the infographic posted in 2015 by TeenSafe, in 1995 teenagers spend only an

average of 2 hours a day watching TV, whereas in 2015 teens were looking at a screen

approximately 7 hours a day. Social interaction, an important aspect in every persons life has

gone down roughly 30% since 1995 amongst teens. An estimated 65% of teenagers in 1995

spend time with their friends outside of school at least twice a week, but today that percentage

has gone down to 35%. Not only has the amount of social interaction amongst teens decreased,

but as the amount they spend on their phone increases, so does their weight. In 1995 according to

TeenSafe, only 11% of teenagers were overweight, but lack of physical activity possibly from

increased phone usage, an estimated 28% of teens were reportedly overweight in 2015. It is

evident that teenagers will use social media wherever they go, it is indeed alarming to know that

some teens spend more time on their phones than they do sleeping. The emergence of social

media has changed the lives of teenagers in many different ways. From the way they
communicate in person, to how many hours they sleep at night, almost every aspect of a

teenagers life is affected by their social media usage.

Positive and Negative Effects on Teenagers

Social media allows teenagers to accomplish many things that are just as important to them

online as they are offline. Staying connected with friends and family, making new friends,

sharing pictures, and exchanging ideas (2011) are all ways social media has allowed us to

communicate efficiently. Positive effects that teenagers could experience through communicating

online include growth of ideas from creating blogs, online art, and videos, whereas some

negative aspects can include cyberbullying, sexting, and the negative influences from

advertisements (2011). Social media has many outlets where teenagers can express themselves,

from online journals, to creating blogs, video journals as well as creating stories through photos.

Social media has become a gateway for teenagers to communicate with their peers through visual

aids that are far from the regular verbal way of expression. Although the internet can be a

wonderful way to express ones own creativity, there will always be people who will interfere

with ones creativity and self-expression. Cyberbullying and online harassment for example, can

trigger negative emotions in a teenagers growing brain and can ultimately lead a teenager down a

dangerous path. A teenager who experiences cyberbullying can develop psychosocial issues

such as depression, anxiety, severe isolation - and in some cases - suicide (2011). Many

negative and positive effects are included within any issue yet in this particular clinical report

performed by the American Academy of Pediatrics it is clearly visible throughout the page that

the negative outweighs the positive.

 How Parents Can Help

As a parent, one of your main priorities is to protect your child from any dangers and in todays

world, protecting them now includes establishing a safe online environment for them. In an

article written by Safe Search Kids, being friends with your teenager on social media is one way

to monitor them by recognizing any inappropriate behavior through their posts. ("Safe Search

Kids," n.d.). Open communication is critical in any relationship but with teenagers it is important

to establish good communication to ensure that they feel safe talking to their parents when

personal issues arise. Keeping home computers and laptops in an open room like a living room is

another way to monitor your teens online usage. Although teens mostly use their cell phones for

communication, it is important to set boundaries, rules and guidelines ("Safe Search Kids,"

n.d.) as well as time restrictions for computer and cell phone usage. According to Safe Search

Kids, parents who openly communicate with their children are more likely to receive the same

approach in response. A parent should lead by example and initiate those difficult discussions

with their teen. Even if the parent only receives one-word responses, they are still listening to the

parent and in time establishes a comfortable environment for open communication ("Safe

Search Kids," n.d.) in the household. The main component of this article is to establish

communication with your teenager which is the most important aspect in developing a

relationship of trust within each other.

Conclusion

With constant social media usage increasing within teenagers, it is evident that communicating

with each other through our phones has become increasingly more common than face to face
interactions. An average teenager might not be immediately aware of any problems that can arise

with social media usage, but as many studies and research has shown, there are several issues

present. Social media outlets allow teenagers to express themselves through various ways such as

blog posting, creating videos, digital art and photography. Although the internet can be as safe

place to some extent, there are far more many consequences that arise from excessive phone

usage than there are positive. Establishing good communication within a teenager and parent

relationship is crucial not only for the health of the relationship but most importantly for the

health of the teenager.

 References

Shapiro, J. (2015, November 3). Teenagers in the U.S. Spend About Nine Hours a Day in Front

of a Screen. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jordanshapiro/2015/11/03/teenagers-

in-the-u-s-spend-about-nine-hours-a-day-in-front-of-a-screen/#101faf35a7c9

Steyer, C. (2015, July 17). 8 Fascinating Facts About How Teens Use The Internet And Social

Media. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tk-facts-about-teens-on-social-

media-that-are-really-scary_us_55a7c6f0e4b0896514d06eab

Teensafe. (2015, February 17). [Facts about Teens and Media: Now & Then] [Infographic].

Retrieved March 30, 2017, from https://www.teensafe.com/blog/true-facts-about-teens-and-

media/

O'Keeffe, G.S., & Pearson, K.C. (2011). The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents,

and Families. Pediatrics, 127(4). Retrieved March 31, 2017, from

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/127/4/800.full.pdf

Parents Guide to Protecting Teens on Social Media (n.d.) Retrieved from

http://www.safesearchkids.com/parents-guide-to-protecting-teens-on-social-

media/#.WN2beDsrKUk