Social Media's Impact on Students' Mental Health Comes Into Focus

According to Kirra Barrett (2018) Seventy percent of teenagers use Snapchat and Instagram,
and 85 percent use YouTube. All of this near-constant "socializing" would seem to make
teenagers feel more connected than they have in the past. When it comes to face-to-face
interaction, social media has damaged my kids. Their communication skills are diminishing.
According to experts, the very notion of "social" media may be deceptive, since the more time
kids spend on it, the lonelier and more worried they become. According to Jacob Barkley, a
professor of health sciences at Kent State University, there is a link between smartphone use
and decreased life satisfaction. "Social media interaction is not useful. It's an electrical device
"Barkley, who has been researching smartphone use among students since 2013, explains. "The
more time spent on social media, and the higher the anxiety, the more people use their
cellphones. The more you use your phone, the worse your peer interactions get." In 2017, Jean
Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, came to the same conclusion.
Twenge found that students who spend more time on cellphones and other electronic devices
are less content with their lives than students who participate in frequent face-to-face
connection in her study. "We discovered that youths who spent five or more hours per day
online were 71 percent more likely to have at least one suicide risk factor than those who spent
less than an hour per day online (depression, thinking about suicide, making a suicide plan or
attempting suicide). Suicide risk variables increased dramatically after spending two or more
hours each day online "Twenge published a book in 2017. If kids followed up their high social
media usage with a lot of face-to-face socialization, the consequences might be less severe.
However, this isn't always the case. It turns out that liking a post, leaving a "cute" comment, or
maintaining a "snapchat streak" isn't the same as catching up. It's a long way off. Yet, according
to these experts, far too many teenagers are replacing instagram posts for real-life interactions,
and suffering the price. Many educators are still striving to fully comprehend the effects of
these technologies because research into social media and education is still in its infancy.
Although social media can be a useful educational tool, many educators are concerned about
its role in increasing student anxiety and stress. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) released some dismal figures about student anxiety and depression in 2018. Teenagers
are more alone, worried, and unhappy than they have ever been. The CDC found that around a
third of youth polled had experienced persistent depression or pessimism. According to John
Richter, the Mental Health Association's head of public policy, social media is compounding this
trend. "Researchers have discovered that when a person gets depression and withdraws from
their peers, they witness other individuals smiling on social media and at parties with friends."
"It accentuates their sense of solitude," Richter explains.

The 2018 Children's Mental Health Report from the Child Mind Institute focuses on
anxiety among teenagers, emphasizing the importance of social media in their life. Despite the
fact that existing research concludes that social media can be beneficial, "youth with a stronger
emotional investment in social media are likely to have higher levels of anxiety," according to
Crystal Huset, counselor at Pardeeville High School in Wisconsin, "students have trouble putting
their phone down for too long." "It appears that many pupils find it difficult to disconnect from
their electronic devices," Huset says. "While many students regard social media as a problem, it
is also the only thing they are familiar with." Anne Braun, a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at
Woodland Elementary School in Kansas, noted a rise in mental health difficulties among her
children. "Ten years ago, I never had a child diagnosed with anxiety or depression," Braun adds.
"They compare themselves, which causes them to feel horrible." Katrina Smith, a North
Carolina fifth-grade teacher, agrees. "They love themselves based on how people react to their
images," Smith explains. According to Smith, the lack of real-life communication, comparison,
and bullying are too much for some pupils to take. She recently observed a pupil behaving
badly in her classroom. She was upset to the point of disrupting the class. After dealing with
her, I discovered that she was involved in a lot more than just Instagram. The night before, her
so-called pals had called her names.

REFERENCE

https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/social-medias-impact-students-
mental-health-comes-focus
Social Media Use and Mental Health and Well-Being Among Adolescents

According to David Leiva (2020) In just a few decades, social media has infiltrated almost every
aspect of our culture. As seen by their extensive use of various different social media platforms,
social media play a particularly large role in the lives of adolescents. Furthermore, the usage of
social media and the variety of platforms available has grown at such a rapid rate that there is
reason to suppose that scientific knowledge concerning the effects of social media on
adolescent health and well-being is fragmented and insufficient. Nonetheless, traditional media
(newspapers, radio, and television) routinely cover research findings revealing the possible
detrimental impacts of social media on mental health and well-being. However, there are
continuous discussions within the scientific community about the influence and significance of
social media in relation to mental health and well-being. Twenge and Campbell (2019) claimed
that using digital technology and social media has a negative impact on well-being, however
Orben and Przybylski (2019) said that the link between digital technology use and teenage well-
being is so weak as to be insignificant. Because social media research is a new focus area, it's
crucial to gain a sense of what's been done so far, as well as describe the subject matter that
studies have looked at in relation to the impact of social media use on teenagers' mental health
and well-being. It's also vital to highlight research gaps in this burgeoning discipline, as they
may help to drive future research in new and worthwhile paths. As a result, a scoping review is
deemed necessary in order to provide the groundwork for future research, which will
eventually provide a knowledge base for policymaking and service delivery. This scoping review
will provide an overview of the main study areas in the subject of social media and adolescent
mental health and well-being, as well as the types of data sources and research instruments
employed thus far. We also hope to draw attention to any gaps in the research literature
(Arksey and O'Malley, 2005). Despite the fact that a considerable number of research on social
media use and mental health have been undertaken from various perspectives over the last
decade, we are unaware of any comprehensive scoping study in this domain. With an estimated
3 billion social media users globally, social media has become an integral part of daily life. The
most active users of social media are teenagers and young adults. Social media research has
exploded in recent years, with the potential link between social media use and mental health
and well-being becoming a divisive and well researched topic. The present body of knowledge
on this subject is dense and difficult to comprehend. The current study is a scoping assessment
of the published literature in the subject of social media use and its relationship to adolescent
mental health and well-being.

REFERENCE

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01949/full
Mental Health in High School Students at the Time of COVID-19: A Student’s
Perspective

According to Benjamin Franklin (2020) school has been closed since March 13, 2020, like many
other schools and institutions, and it is unclear when classes will resume. Adolescence is an
important stage in one's social development. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social isolation
and school closures might exacerbate current mental health problems in teenagers and raise
the likelihood of future mental health problems. Many students' mental health risks are
increased by a disruption of habit, social isolation, and feelings of loneliness. Adolescents are
also at danger of acquiring mental health problems because to an increase in domestic violence
and abuse during this epidemic. For vulnerable teenagers, schools have traditionally provided a
social support network as well as mental health care. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic,
schools were closed, removing the protective layer of school-based mental health support. The
closure of community agencies exacerbates the situation. The COVID-19 quarantine, on the
other hand, has provided opportunity for family bonding through conventional board games
and other activities. However, certain children may require additional assistance to maintain
their health. Early detection and referral to primary care and mental health providers can be
facilitated by virtual meetings with guidance counselors from schools. Families may struggle to
afford technology for high school children who could benefit from school-based counseling
support for mental health concerns in a pandemic context of furloughs and job layoffs.
Adolescents seeking telemental health treatments through school and community providers
should have fair access to technology. COVID-19 contents have been blasted onto social media
platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, and TikTok in recent months. The "likes" and
"shares" on these social media platforms determine what information is trending, and any
misinformation exposes teens to associated hazards. Anxiety, powerlessness, and
catastrophizing events have all been connected to the social media epidemic. 4 Furthermore,
COVID-19-themed jokes and memes spreading on social media may cause pandemic issues to
be dismissed, increasing the likelihood of infection and the resulting distress and suffering.
Students can be guided toward healthy information-seeking behavior and positive mental
health techniques through partnerships with parents and social influencers. The majority of
teens are spending more time in front of screens as a result of growing social media use and
conventional means of schooling transferring to digital platforms. Excessive screen usage is
linked to poor sleep, sedentary behaviors, mental health issues, and physical ailments. In the
face of the pandemic, anxiety, fear of contracting the virus, sleep problems, and anxieties about
the future are some of the typical mental health issues affecting adolescents. During a
pandemic, there has been an increase in the incidence of mental health problems among
teenagers, including stress-related illnesses, depression, anxiety, and substance addiction.
During the COVID-19 epidemic, quarantine, trauma, and bereavement all raise the risk of
mental illness. Due to a lack of suitable support networks, adolescents must fend for
themselves in an underfunded and stigmatized area. Children's safeguarding agencies, as well
as family and community support to create greater interactions with children and adolescents,
can help decrease dangers.