The Dangers Of Peer Pressure Lead To Teen Suicide

In the article “ Teenage Social Media Butterflies May Not Be Such A Bad Idea “ by Melissa Healy, social media isn’t as bad as you think. According to Amori Yee Mikami teenages are using social media to communicate with their friends and not strangers . Some adolescents count their parents as their friends on social networking sites. According to a L.A. psychology professor kaveri Subrahmanyam says children on and offline have the same relationship on social networking sites and in reality . Another thing Subrahmanyam said was that teens use social media in wayś that don't harm their well being. Some teens that struggle with depression or other type of behavior are most likely to be bully or harass, and also take online risks such as sexting

Kardaras, Nicolas. "Generation Z: Online and at Risk?." Scientific American Mind, vol. 27, no. 5, Sep/Oct 2016, pp. 64-9. MasterFILE Premier. Kardars discuss generation z use of social media affecting them negatively. He opens his article with a story of Heidi who becomes addicted to social media when her school issues her a Chromebook. Before Heidi is issued the laptop, she was a sweet innocent girl and after having it for a semester she became someone her parents could not recognize. He states that social media is a “perfect storm” for humans because having a social connection key to “happiness and health”. Having the ability to always use social media leads to hyper texting the illusion of a real connection making it hard for teens to have face to face conversations, making a teens become “glow kid[s]“, someone who is raised on mostly digital social interactions. Facebook depression” can result in the teen to have lower grades and behavior problems in teens. He concludes his article with facts proving that Facebook can become addictive in some people. This source helps support my thesis that Facebook affects teens mental health.

The effects of social media impact everyone differently. Some teens are not impacted at all, some are diagnosed with mental health disorders, and worse case scenario, some take their own lives. According to the Huffington Post, suicide rates for girls ages 15 to 19 have doubled since 2007 and has increased 30 percent for boys. An article written by David Luxton posted by Am J Public Health

Dealing with peer pressure as a teenager can be stressful since you want to be accepted but it might lead you to do negative things you feel uncomfortable with. Peer pressure is the influence of those similar to you, such as classmates or friends, that encourages you to change your behavior or values to meet theirs. This is a problem for teenagers since at their age, they are becoming more independent from their parents which can expose them to drugs, alcohol and sex. According to a study conducted by The Foundation for a Drug-Free World, 55% of teenagers said they used drugs for the first time because of being pressured by their friends. Learning to avoid and say “No” to Peer Pressure can help a lot of teenagers avoid these negative lifestyles and influences.

The more we use social media, the less happy we seem to be. Many people would agree that social media leads to isolation, depression, and anxiety. Social Media impacts people in many ways; some are good, but some are very bad. Using social media to communicate is extremely convenient, unfortunately, more people are developing social anxiety because we are learning to comunicate through a screen from a young age. Also, seeing people posting about all the good in their lives can lead you to compare yourself to others. Most importantly, increased exposure of bullying through the internet contributes to high risk of depression. Generally, social media has more bad effects on our mental health than good ones.

Social media sites are a few of the most visited sites every day. Everyone wants to know what everyone else is up to. People can follow their favorite celebrities every move and see what their friends are doing with every update. Few people go days without checking their online profiles on popular social media sites such as, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Many people joined these networks to keep up with old friends from the past and keep contact with everyone in their life and young people use them every day to check status updates and post selfies. In the article, " The upside of selfies: Social media isn't all bad for kids", Kelly Wallace claims that social media has a positive effect on young people. However, research shows that social media impacts young people’s emotional health negatively.

Often dismissed as childish “moodiness,” depression is one of the most common psychological problems that afflict teenagers. For most teens, the effects of their depression can be felt throughout every area of their lives, from relationships

About 90% of young adults use social media and majority of user’s check-in at least once a day. (Lin, Liu, 2016). Social media can have positive impacts in our lives when it comes to communication, and research show that it is changing young adults and our youth for the worst in a negative way. So, how does social media cause depression? Social media can lead to poor mental and physical health: cyberbullying and social isolation can cause depression; this depression leads to alcohol use.

The advent of social technology may bear some responsibility for anxiety and depression in adolescents, teenagers, and young adults. Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram -- they are all fun -- until things get out of hand. The 2014 National College Health Assessment, a survey of nearly 80,000 college students throughout the United States, found that 54% of students reported experiencing overwhelming anxiety in the past 12 months and that 32.6% "felt so depressed that it was difficult to function" during the same period. The study also found that 6.4% had "intentionally, cut, burned, bruised or otherwise injured" themselves, that 8.1% had seriously considered suicide and that 1.3% had attempted suicide (Potarazu). Sreedhar uses logos to support how social media have some part in the causes of anxiety and depression in adolescents, teenagers, and young adults. He uses the survey data conducted by The National College Health Assessment to prove his point.

Depression is a severe mood disorder and it is the most frequently diagnosed psychiatric disorder amongst adolescents. Depression is a state that adolescents can fall easily into. Teenagers spend more time with their friends than they do with their families which can result is possible rejection of peers. Individuals feel the need to have approval of self-worth by their peers. If they get disapproval, this can lead to brutal symptoms. (Platts, Kadosh, Lau 6). The symptoms can vary from self-worthlessness, anxiety, or a

Peer pressure not only influences teens, but everyone to make decisions for the better or worse. Everyone experiences peer pressure whether they give into it or not. There are two kinds of peer pressure: there is good peer pressure and bad peer pressure. Giving into peer pressure is all up to the victim and how strong their beliefs are. Some people feel that peer pressure can be avoided but peer pressure is everywhere and can affect many people whether they realize it or not by: everyday decisions influenced by others, friends pressuring someone to take risks, and also peers influencing someone to do things for the better, such as simply studying for a test or telling the truth.

Social media seems to be one of the many hot topics of discussion recently, and consequently many people have the false sense of security that they have a profound knowledge on how it affects the health of the teenage population. A sedentary lifestyle, decreased sleep, as well as other physical health conditions seem to come to mind when one links health and social media. However, there is a much bigger problem that can go unnoticed because it can be impossible to see: the impact it has on mental and emotional health. These branches of health are just as important, and even arguably more important than physical health is. Social media can be utilized to connect with distant friends and express oneself; however, teenagers should refrain from the overuse of social media due to its detrimental effects on their mental and emotional health.

Teens are not only using social media for support with physical image but teens also have been using if for suicide prevention. In an article from American Journal for Public Health about Social media and suicide it states that:

Today’s teenagers are faced with the ever changing world around them and the biological changes of their bodies. Many teens are also faced with depression. Approximately half of teenagers with untreated depression may attempt suicide, which remains the third leading cause of death in this age group. (Bostic). This depression affects their school, family lives, and robs them of their self image. Depression affects many teens and often goes by unnoticed and untreated.

One of the news in washing post “Rise in teen suicide, social media coincide; is there a link?” Sept 16, 2017, talks about why suicide in teen is going up every day. According to the news, a major reason behind the teen suicide is the social media and news headlines. Research says, that there is a link between increasing use of social media and teens mental health, and that can lead teens towards the suicide. Even though the study does not answer this question 100% it is suggested that teen suicide can be blamed on cyberbullying, and social media posts depicting “perfect” lives may be taking a toll on teens’ mental health (Lindsey Tanner, W. Post, Sept 2017). Caitlin Hearty, a 17-year-old Littleton, Colorado, the high school says “After hours of scrolling through Instagram feeds, I just feel worse