Teens are spending more time worrying about how many likes they get on their latest Instagram selfie, than they do about their grades or school life.  Their social life is more important than their personal life, even though some post all of their personal business on their social media. It is starting to mold many teenagers into who they are becoming.

According to the family technology education non-profit group, Common Sense Media, teens are spending nine hours on average on their phones, and kids ages 8 to 12, spend almost six hours a day on their phones. That is wasting one third of their day. They are never really taking the time out of their day to look up from their screens and just enjoy each other. Teenagers also never really ‘hang out’ anymore, because what they consider hanging out now is all being in the same space, but all of them are being consumed by their phones as if they can’t go a minute without seeing their screen. Today’s teens are learning most of their communication while looking at their screens, not another person.

Social media makes it easier for cyberbullying. They do it thinking there will be no consequences. More kids are being cruel through Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc…

“Kids text all sorts of things that you would never in a million years contemplate saying to anyone’s face,” Dr. Donna Wick, a clinical and developmental psychologist, said.

Nobody seems to notice the effects that social media, or even technology for that matter, has on this generation. It makes some kids feel important because they have a large amount of followers, or because they can act like a totally different person online, but it also makes some kids feel unimportant because of cyberbullying, lack of attention, or not being able to live up to the expectations that social media sets for teenagers and kids today.

Cyber bullying will increase and so will teenagers insecurities. According to Bullyingstatistics.org, Cyber bullying can be very damaging to adolescents and teens. It can lead to anxiety, depression, and even suicide. The rate of suicides will go up due to cyber bullying. If we as a society don’t do anything to help with this social issue now, how do you think our kids will be in the next five years, the next ten years, or in the next twenty years.