Over the years, social media has taken over the world, infiltrating the lives of young children and adolescents. Various social media platforms give society the chance to communicate with others and express their true creativity through the click of a button. It is safe to say that social media has altered the way young people live their day-to-day lives, but is it for the better? 

Many studies have been conducted to see whether social media is really a risk to the mental health of young teens. According to Dr. Shilpa Murthy, the brain undergoes various amounts of stress and a “highly sensitive period between the ages 10 and 19” (Katella). These years are critical in brain development, and the overuse of social media could cause irreparable damage to youth. Depression and anxiety are two key symptoms resulting in an overuse of social media in young teens (Katella). 

There is no doubt, young people spend way too much time wrapped up in social media. This can pose a threat to mental health, but I don’t believe that the government should have control over social media regulation. Other solutions such as holding parents or guardians accountable for their children’s social media usage would be more beneficial. 

With the right guidance and advice, social media can be a positive outlet for young teens. That said, the teen should be mature enough to handle the responsibility of being on social media, which can be reinforced by following the platform’s age guidelines. Following these guidelines could help prevent the threat of mental health problems in children’s lives. 

As a young teen myself, I can confirm how easy it is to get sucked into the wormhole that is TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. Checking your latest notifications somehow leads to hours and hours of mindless scrolling. Yet, government laws and bans are not the right solution in this case. I believe that teens should monitor their social media usage independently, or the restrictions should come from a trusted parent or guardian. Setting a screen time limit on certain apps and turning off app notifications can be other effective alternatives to try and limit screen time.

Continuously making the conscious effort to keep certain parts of one’s day “device free” and creating a family media plan would be beneficial to all ages in society. Social media can be seen as a positive outlet for teens under the right use and with moderation.

Editors’ Note: The ideas expressed herein are the sole opinions of the writer, not of The Lance as a publication.