The Dangers of Social media to the Adolescent Mind

image source
Social media is currently a massive sensation in the world today. Literally anything you can think of can be accessed without limitations connecting people from different places around the world through their communication gadgets. Social media has become a huge part of our society, a place where both opinions and emotions are expressed, information acquired through posts that continue to slowly shape the perception of the human race and with its level of accessibility, children and adolescents are not exempted from its influence.

Social media comes with a lot of positive benefits that have helped boost growth in the lives of these young ones. In an age where information is just finger tips away, it has given them free access to the necessary tools that will in their education, learning even going as far as connecting them with their immediate environment and those afar. Knowledge they say is power and social media happens to a reservoir of it, breaking boundaries that seemed impossible decades ago and creating opportunities that help build the future generation for the world that lays ahead. However with this level of information liberty for their young minds also comes unfiltered content which they have no business with. They encounter the good, the bad and the ugly and at that young age where the mind wants to explore everything, they get easily tempted by the negative which they see online and eventually pass it off as norms inevitably using social media for the wrong purpose and might end up becoming nuisances to the society.

image source

I remember my first encounter with social media years ago. Back then I was 11 and the happening platform in Nigeria at that period was 2go. My elder sister was constantly on her phone and I could not understand why she was deeply fascinated with just talking to people she doesn't even know. I opened an account as well but did not really fancy it until the very next year as it was the only thing boys talked about. I started off slow and found myself slowly becoming obsessed with it, I barely read, indulged in offline conversations or even pay attention to my studies. I snuck my phone to school even though it was against school regulations and only cared about boosting my 2go level all the way up to ULTIMATE. To make things worse I had two accounts which I used one to impersonate as lady just for the fun of messing with people's heads. I was eventually caught by a teacher in school who asked me to call my parents for them to collectively determine my punishment and that put an end to that. And so as much as it comes with its benefits, the disadvantages should never be overlooked.
The realm of social media also breeds unrealistic expectations, unnecessary comparisons and desperation especially for these adolescents. They see people online flaunting an expensive lifestyles and they become pressured to meet up to this standards even if it means cutting corners just online validations, likes and comments like "You are the biggest boy in town" which only leads to nowhere worth even visiting.

Yes, social media is a tool meant to be an empowerment platform but it's abuse has made many adolescents dangerously addicted to it and cannot even think by themselves without running online for assistance. This is slowly stunting academic development and if things continue this way, the next generation might not even see the importance of being educated as they feel everything they wish to know can be accessed at the touch of screen (there are signs of this happening already).
I do believe social media comes with a benefits for everyone in today's world. Nevertheless the disadvantages are easily noticeable when it comes to the future leaders of tomorrow due to their numerous vulnerability. All these problems can still be countered if the right measures are put in place and strictly enforced because as they say There is no such thing bad inventions, it just depends on how it is used.
Thank you all