Khadijas' Argument essay

docx

School

Chamberlain College of Nursing *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

LTRE 421

Subject

English

Date

May 28, 2024

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by JudgeMonkeyPerson10

1 Impacts of Social Media on Mental Health Khadija Khan Chamberlain University ENGL148: Advanced English Composition Professor Michelle James February 5, 2023

2 Impacts of Social Media on Mental Health Social media has had such a negative impact that has lead a brother of an influencer murder his sister because of her growing success and her exhibitions. Social media has a bad effect on mental health because it makes individuals suicidal, unhappy, insecure, and egotistical and sets up unattainable ideals. Additionally, promoting conflict and rivalry amongst people, particularly amongst friends and families. Social media can have such a negative impact on mental health, leading one to kill a family member and call it an honor killing. Some individuals who struggle to achieve success with this technology despite their best efforts are psychologically harmed. This can result in sadness, suicidal ideation, and even suicide attempts. To start, lets discuss depression and anxiety correlation with use of social media. A research from Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica states that, “Five types of social networks are the cause of depression and anxiety, these sources include Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Using Snapchat and Instagram had the worst outcome on mental health, YouTube had some positive results” (Ghaemi et al., 2020, p. 357-358). YouTube is a means to earn money in this day and age; Presently, YouTube provides many different videos that society can utilize for several different reasons. For an example, vlogging different activities like shopping, everyday life, tutorials on different skills, and camping videos. Vlogging refers to documentation via video using a recording device creating a log of an event (Tempone, 2021). Camping is used as a way of meditation for some people. Vlogging camping on a daily bases is believed to bring positive impact financially and psycghologically. Just like drawing, painting, and playing sports would for anyone else. YouTube videos can help people learn new things and receive a form of entertainment. Snapchat and Instagram is reported to be more problematic. The Center of Disease Control reported that, “By age eighteen, 45.3% of teens have had sexual intercourse and that much sexual activity is involved in Instagram and Snapchat. It reported that 20% of

3 teens engage in sexting. The pressure most girls get from sex culture influenced boys leads to girls allowing certain things. These studies showed teens involved in a hypersexual culture- with a whopping number of 93% boys and 62% girls being exposed to pornography. 74% of Snapchat photos are selfies not uncommonly of girls in sexualized poses” (Ghaemi et al., 2020, p. 358-359). These cultural norms potentionally lead to mental health problems like anxiety, depression, and a decreased sense of self-esteem. This is a problematic highly sexualized culture. Imagine being a teenager put into this “normal” culture all around you and seeing other teens engage in such activity. Imagine feeling bad about how you look or being put down for not looking a certain way. Sometimes teens are being forced to do something because of pressure from peers and feeling a sense of wanting to belong to a group. This leads to being quiet and not speaking up. Hence, depression and anxiety occurs. Peer pressure can be a good thing but for those who follow and usually are not natural born leaders participate in risky behaviors and activities (Scripps, 2019). Such behavior results in many social media users experiencing cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is bullying but give it a twist and make it online. If a teenager is facing bullying in person, such as at school, there’s a chance it will follow them home as well. Cyber bullying became a term that was used back in 1998 (Maryville University, 2019). This term coined abusive and aggressive behaviors that occurred online. “According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 20.2% percent of all students have reported experience with some kind of bullying” (Maryville University, 2019). Constant critisicm and words to hurt you- something as little as a comment on a social media post can impact a person’s overall mental health and course of how their day goes. Not only that, but threats to one’s life or social status and reputation. Cyberbullying, just like any type of prolonged and constant bullying, can lead to decline in mental stability and self-esteem and further leading to self harm and suicide. If there was more supervision over youth using social media, this could possibly be prevented. Statistically, according to the studies evaluated by National Institution of Mental Health

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

4 2020 “Children and adolescent of ages 10-19 in the United States have an increased suicide rate of 35% from late 90’s to 2018 due to use of social media platform” (Niles., 2022, p.1). According to the article, “ The Influence of Social Media on Adolescents suicide”, 80% of adolescents from the ages 13-18 were reported using social media daily and having ownership of smart phones. Suicidal ideation and attempts are most common in mental health emergencies in adolescents. Suicide rates has been increasing up to 24% since the early 2000. Indeed, individuals may earn money by vlogging on social media by gaining as many subscribers as they can. Those that put a lot of effort into social media succeed finacially. But some social media where you can post pictures of oneselve and communicate sexually leads to bad things such as lower self-esteem that causes depression and anxiety. Websites such as Only Fans contribute to unrealistic body ideals for men and women alike. This website has also promoted, if even unintentionally, the selling and distribution of child pornography. Children in their early teen years have been able to upload content of theirselves and get paid for it (National Center of Sexual Exploitation, 2021). This is an inherent failure of the age verification system (National Center of Sexual Exploitation, 2021). Many individuals find it difficult to separate the fact that the vloggers and influencers are there to entertain and advertise a cetain life style that everyone should lead even if they can’t. These certain lifestyles include high end product purchasing, body modification and even unrealistic personal relationships. This may be due to financial instability and even physical ailments. Even illegal activities have been displayed on the internet increasing the global crime rate. “Young people are using social networking platforms to display their crimes and brag about their brazen lifestyles through sharing footage of themselves committing various offences whilst taunting the police (Barron, 2020). A look into a recent incident in Brisbane a local ‘youth gang’ were allegedly committed for a string of Instagram posts that showed teenage boys joyriding in stolen cars, risking community lives by travelling over 200km/h (Barron, 2020) (Wood, 2022)”. Social media use is also prevalent with an addition of cyberbullying- which is increasingly more damaging to the mental health of those who experience it. There are no laws

5 against cyberbullying to incriminate perpertraitor. If cyberbullying fall under the catogories of harrasement, sexual activities, physical and verbal violence then legal actions can be taken against individuals commiting cyberbullying (Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA), 2019). However, there are strict laws ensuring that there shall be no distribution of videography or imagery of children (Grocki, 2020). This absolutely violates the laws of child pornography, but somehow the crime can still slip through the cracks of the internet. There could be a major decrease in suicide rates amongst adolescents and an improvement in the mental health of society overall. Currently, many websites are updating their policies to ensure that cyberbullying becomes more difficult to perform. Comment sections operate on an algorithm that prevents derogatory terms from being used or posted in written reviews. This is typically created by utilizing various programming languages. Real life video verification is used to ensure people aren’t impersonating another individual. The ability to report harassment is available to catch the cyberbully before real damage is done to the person. This works by immediately blocking the person after they have been reported. If all social media platforms were to implement these practices, then a trend can be seen to in a decrease in the bullying. Much survellaince of social media use falls upon parental guidance and observance. If a child has parents or even come from a single parent household, it is highly likey their supervision is minimal due to the busy schedule of the parents. Children from a divorced or widowed are more likely to be victimized during cyberbullying (López-Castro & Priegue, 2019). There are many factors that contribute to poor mental health. It can be an already preexisting conditionor induced from external factors. Social media is one of them. Whether it is due to the desire to be just like Influencers and vloggers or realizing your body image doesn’t fit the quota of these celebrities. Cyberbullying is a major component in the decline of mental health as there is evidence it causes successful suicide attempts. This is not to show that social media is bad, but in the wrong hands it can surely pose a threat to society.

6 References Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA). (2019, September 24). Federal Laws . StopBullying.gov. https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/laws/federal Ghaemi, S. N. (2020). Digital depression: a new disease of the millennium? Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica , 141 (4), 356–361. https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.13151 Grocki, S. J. (2020, May 28). Citizen’s Guide To U.S. Federal Law On Child Pornography . Www.justice.gov. https://www.justice.gov/criminal-ceos/citizens-guide-us-federal-law- child-pornography#:~:text=Images%20of%20child%20pornography%20are López-Castro, L., & Priegue, D. (2019). Influence of Family Variables on Cyberbullying Perpetration and Victimization: A Systematic Literature Review. Social Sciences , 8 (3), 98. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci8030098 Maryville University. (2019, February 15). Cyberbullying Definitions, Facts, Laws & Resources | Maryville Online . Maryville Online. https://online.maryville.edu/blog/what-is- cyberbullying-an-overview-for-students-parents-and-teachers/ National Center of Sexual Exploitation. (2021, June 10). A Look Into OnlyFans: Child Sexual Abuse Material and Trafficking . NCOSE. https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/a- look-into-onlyfans/ Niles, L. L. (2022). The Influence of Social Media on Adolescent Suicide: Is It All Bad? Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services , XX (NO. X, 20XX), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.3928/02793695-20220906-03 Sant, A. (2022, March 18). Influencers Set Unrealistic Expectations . Twice-Told Tale; The Student News of Lake Highland Preparatory School.

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

7 https://twicetoldtale.org/925/entertainment/influencers-set-unrealistic-expectations/ #:~:text=Influencers%20on%20social%20media%20take Scripps. (2019, September 23). How Peer Pressure Affects Teenagers . Scripps Health. https://www.scripps.org/news_items/4648-how-does-peer-pressure-affect-a-teen-s-social- development Tempone, D. (2021, July 19). What Is a Vlog and How Do You Start One? | Blog . Domestika. https://www.domestika.org/en/blog/8305-what-is-a-vlog-and-how-do-you-start-one Wood, J. (2022, May 2). Social Media and Crime - Debating Communities and Networks XIII . Netstudies.org. https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2022/csm/1183/social-media- and-crime/

Khadijas' Argument essay

Related Documents