Synthesis Essay On Effects Of Social Media

Older generations don’t realize how much technology has affected this generation of teenagers, along with the social media that comes along with the technology. As stated in “How Social Media Changed Teens’ Lives Forever”; “Negative posts or comments also can do great damage to a teen’s self-esteem.” (Ashley Black, Thomas Atseff and Colleen Kaveney) While many parents think social media is just a way to connect with others, many teenagers take it for granted. For example, “quitting social media because it made her miserable and obsessed with appearing perfect online”, is what a teenager felt about social media and what it has done to her. Though many think that social media is a great way to connect, teenagers take it to another level.

Online predators and Stalkers can easily gain access to social media users’ personal information by either requesting to be a user’s friend or simply finding a way around the user's privacy settings. According to June Ahn, chat rooms are public and is an unmonitored space where online predators are more likely to be. “Adolescents are less likely to be targeted for unwanted sexual solicitation in social media than chat rooms.”(Ahn, June) I have found that, 412 adolescents were more likely to talk with strangers. This is hazardous for young children and adolescents because their lack of life experience leads them to blindly accept all friend request. The effort to seem popular by having many friends online can damage credibility and truth worthiness.

In Melissa Healy’s article, published on May 18, 2010, Los Angeles Times, “Teenage Social Media Butterflies May Not Be Such a Bad Idea,” she argues that social media and their social skills may not be such a catastrophe after all and that teenagers who use social media are psychologically healthiest. Healy supports this claim by first describing how, according to the research found by Amori Yee Mikami, social networking sites are mostly used to, not to converse with strangers online, but to interact with friends they already know and said, “So people of well-adjusted teens may have little to worry about regarding the way their children behave when using social media. It’s likely to be similarly positive behavior.” Then, she makes a connection

Bullying has become more of an issue that is threatening our younger generation today. Bullying is becoming more of a vicious act in public schools throughout the United States (Coloroso, 2003; Felix & McMahon, 2006). There are many adverse effects that are caused by this disgraceful act. The average school-age child is silently or overtly tormented on a daily basis. Many of these students who experience bullying feel that they have no one to talk to, or that they have no where to go. The motives that the bullies take can cause harmful and even devastating results. In today’s society, bullying provokes emotional, social, and cognitive distress in the

The use of social networking sites is rising at great rates. According to a report conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in 2012, ninety-five percent of individuals aged 12-17 use the internet; and eighty-one percent of those use social network sites (Pew Interest). Although it is known that social media can have a useful impact on lives, often times people forget that with a positive comes a negative. The continual use of social network sites will impact teen lives more negatively than positively because they can cause huge distractions from valuable and critical pursuits like education; they can also cause mental health issues and a reduction in communication skills.

A study was done to explore the effects of short exposure to appearance-related media on young girls’ body image. Some writings/studies has suggested that girls at the age of 6 and older are experiencing problems with their body, or body dissatisfaction (Dohnt & Tiggemann, 2005). Some researchers are even saying that girls as young as 5 are having problems with their body image. There is some evidence that suggests that young children are aware of being thin or the “thin ideal” that exists in today’s society. Researchers are focusing on the information underneath

In recent years, we have heard more and more about bullying and the alarming effects it has on our society. Bullying is defined by the Center for Disease and Control (CDC) as “any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths who are not siblings or current dating partners that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated.” (“Featured Topic: Bullying Research” ) There are many forms of bullying, including but not limited to physical bullying, verbal bullying, and cyber and text bullying. The adverse effects can cause severe damage to the victim, including both physical and mental health issues as well as academic issues. Numerous studies

Girls as young as five have been reported to have weight concerns and express an aspiration to be thinner. Body image is a complex psychosomatic concept; it is difficult understand how negative body image develops in young children. Nevertheless, children learn by observing and imitating things they see around them, and their initial ideas about appearance and weight become shaped by their peers, family and the media. Children’s media is known to promulgate stereotypical messages about beauty, appearance, and weight; the “good” characters are beautiful, while the “bad” are typically ugly. The overweight characters have few friends, and are usually not as happy as the skinnier characters. Research specifies that 3-5 year olds already visibly associate larger figures with more negative characteristics, such as being disobedient and malicious. This also has the effect of reinforcing the societal thin ideal for women, and having high thoughts of a skinnier body is a known risk factor for body dissatisfaction and eating

Interestingly bullying has been identified and studied internationally with the earliest work in the field initiated in the late 1970s by Dan Olweus in Scandinavia. Also, other researchers in Great

Most people are familiar with the “traditional” form of bullying. Oftentimes it produces an image of someone at school threatening those that they deem weaker than them or harassing them either physically or emotionally. Cyberbullying is “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices. As such, it covers a number of phenomena, including stalking, spreading rumors, impersonating victims, and anonymous online taunting to name a few”(Miller, 2017). Body image is “how you see yourself when you look in the mirror or when you picture yourself in your mind. It encompasses: what you believe about your own appearance (including your memories, assumptions, and generalizations;) how you feel about your body, including your height, shape and weight and how you sense and control your body as you move; and how you feel in your body, not just about your body” (National Eating Disorders Association, 2016). Traditionally, issues with body image have been seen a women’s issue. However, with the increase use of social media, more people are developing body image

Bullying is such a broad topic and therefore, has many definitions and interpretations. Gladden et al. (2014)

Bullies in School Kathleen Berger 1 Bullying was once commonly thought to be an unpleasant but normal part of child's play, not to be encouraged, of course, but of little consequence in the long run. However, developmental researchers who have looked closely at the society of children consider bullying to be a very serious problem, one that harms both the victim and the aggressor, sometimes continuing to cause suffering years after the child has grown up. 2 One leading researcher in this area is Dan Olweus, who has studied bullying in his native country of Norway and elsewhere for twenty-five years. The cruelty, pain, and suffering that he has documented in that time are typified by the examples of Linda and Henry: Linda was systematically

Olweus, D. & Limber, S. (2009) The International Handbook of School Bullying. Edited by Shane

From early age to teenage years, most of these bully victims or oppressors are children. According to “Bullying” by Aussei F. Dooboy and Daniel L. Clay, twenty to thirty percent of

Dombeck, M., PhD. (2014). The Long Term Effects of Bullying. Retrieved October 09, 2016, from