Assessment Description

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Grand Canyon University *

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PSY 530

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Arts Humanities

Date

Dec 6, 2023

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docx

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Uploaded by EarlElephantMaster426

Running head: [SHORTENED TITLE UP TO 50 CHARACTERS] 1 Assessment Description Caroline Sears College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Grand Canyon University PSY-650: Human Development Rick Webster March 16, 2022 Assessment Description

[SHORTENED TITLE UP TO 50 CHARACTERS] 2 The world of social media for the current generation of adolescents, commonly known as Generation “Y”, the “Me Generation” and Millennials, provide a world which has never been known or sought after by earlier adolescent generations. This “world” includes the mighty cell phone, almost sheer gold to those who are privileged to have one and is the primary way adolescents communicate with friends and family. When talking about how social media affects or is used to study psychosocial development for adolescents, there are likely to be thousands of studies, and just as many opinions. This paper will look at the risks, opportunities, and influences of adolescent social media and discuss aspects of how adolescent development has changed due in part to the Social Media Age. An Adolescent Brain It is important to briefly discuss an adolescent’s brain development. An adolescent brain is not fully formed at the frontal cortex, according to Andrian Galvan, (2013) which can result in adolescent impulsivity, thrill seeking, and the taking of extreme risks without thought of injury or consequences. Thus, the behavior and driving force for adolescents is reward, not worry. Risks and Opportunities of Social Media on Adolescent Psychosocial Development Risks Within Psychosocial Development It is a 24/7-hour service. An adolescent can talk to friends or be a part of the social media world for much of the day. According to an article by O’Keefe & Clark-Pearson, (2021), adolescents are using sites much more often. According to a recent poll, 22% of teens log on to favorite sites more than 10 times a day, and 75% of teenagers own a cellphone. Instant messaging, social media, and texting are the top reasons for adolescents to own a phone.

[SHORTENED TITLE UP TO 50 CHARACTERS] 3 However, the risks for adolescents using texting and social media have increased over time and without much thought for any worry by teenagers. As described above, the underdeveloped brain does not think about risk when logging on to any social site. Therefore, the risks are higher for adolescents to be hurt or suffer consequences as a result of their social media accounts. One of the first risks is Cyberbullying. Bullying on its own is not new. Bullies have been around for generations and researchers, educators, kids and towns have long fought the battle on how to combat it. The social media generation, however, faces a new, sophisticated level of bullying-cyberbullying. Cyberbullying can be extremely emotional and stressful for victims. Most often, the victims include LGBTQ teens and young women. It can be especially difficult for adolescent girls, who are becoming young women and are becoming aware of their sexuality. Girls who are prematurely developed and wear tight or a low-cut blouse can be fodder for cyberbullies of both sexes, for example. Many victims try to fight back through social media negativity but eventually can become a cycle for victim and bully. Those victims fall prey to psychosocial depression, anxiety, isolation and suicide. In addition to cyberbullying adolescents are at risk for other disorders and social problems. Peer pressure, depression, anxiety, sleep deprivation, emotional regulation, lack of physical activity and overeating are common issues resulting from too much screen time (Riehm, 2019). Teens are under pressure to be liked and understood by their peers. Depression occurs when a Facebook page does not have many “likes” or positive comments by friends and even outside the immediate social world. Social media for adolescents is important because as they connect with

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