high school
70 percent of teens admit to tapping into social media multiple times a day
students that may have 1,000 friends online but struggle to make friends in real life.” According to the Common Sense survey, representing more than 1,000 U.S. adolescents age 13 to 17, teens say that lots of social media use affects their social and emotional health, but not necessarily in a negative way. In fact, many claim positive effects; however, researchers caution against relying on teens to make that judgment. Parents’ opinions vary. Rob Agnello holds social media’s influence partly at fault for his 14-year-old daughter’s suicide in 2015. He says his daughter Rebecca had a good group of friends, but “sitting with her phone and people not getting back to her” was particularly painful for her. However, Ceciley Bradford says her “typically very reserved” 17-year-old daughter has more friends than she had at the same age. Though her >
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“There is a huge concern these days about the potential impact of social media and 24/7 tech use on today’s teens, including linking social media use to technology addiction, the decay of in-person social skills and multiple harms to kids’ mental well-being,” says Common Sense Media founder and CEO James Steyer. In her book, Twenge suggests that teens who spend the most time on their screens are more likely to be unhappy. Despite the impression that robust, healthy friendships exist, the images people share on social media platforms can cause others to feel as though they’re not measuring up, experts say. There’s little face-to-face communication to put those online representations in context. “At the root of it is a sense of disconnection,” says Varun Soni, a vice provost at the University of Southern California overseeing the office of wellness and crisis intervention. “These are students who are so connected online but disconnected offline. These are
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