Mental Health Effects of Social Media on Students | Guest Post by Martina Merashi
The internet contains lots of information and can be useful to students in many ways. However, when students spend lots of time online unsupervised, this not only exposes them to risks such as cyber-bullying, sexual exploitation, and cyber-stalking but also can negatively affect their mental health.
Check out the reasons why social media is bad for mental health:
- Social media affects Self-esteem
Comparing yourself to others on social media platforms affects you by arousing feelings of self-doubt. Do you wonder how does social media affect self-esteem? Social media is associated with multiple online risks that expose kids to humiliation, threats, and embarrassment, or worse, still offensive images. All these can have a significant effect on a student’s self-esteem.
- Social media affects memory and attention span.
Most students use phones to take photos and remember fond memories by posting these online. If your kid has an old device, recycle old phones and acquire a new one but monitor what they do online. How do social media affect teenagers? Kids get exposed to many threats online, and social media affects how they remember some happenings in their life. Also, the information can easily distract students, and this affects their attention span.
- Anxiety and depression
Social media causes mental health issues like anxiety and depression. For instance, sexual exploitation is prevalent online, and predators target students. When they try to lure a student into offline meetings with gift or cash offers, this heightens their levels of interest and anxiety. Do you still have questions about social media and mental health? Check out a report on a study conducted on 1,000 people who stated that they wanted to quit the use of social media, 41% of the participants claimed that such platforms cause them to feel unhappy, depressed, and anxious!
Conclusion
With all the above negative effects of social media on students, parents must monitor their kid’s online activities and also restrict the time spent online. This way, you not only safeguard your kid’s safety but also ensure excellent mental health.