Social Media Addiction Among Teens in Australia
A 2018 study found that teens who spend 5 hours per day using their phones were almost twice as likely to exhibit depressive symptoms as counterparts who dedicated only 1 hour on their phones. Would you want your life to turn out like this? I don't think so and the social media addiction essay shows this issue.
Social media has become an addiction throughout Australian society. I believe it is servilely affecting teens throughout Australia, and the social media addiction should be stopped. Social media addiction is affecting teenagers’ lives by not making themselves read a book, study, or play sports. It is also dumbing down teenager’s communication skills. My idea for changing and stopping social media addiction in teens is that there should be a higher age allowance on all social media apps in Australia.
In Australia, sport and activity is very common throughout teenagers, but teens are not developing the skill to play sport, read or even talk to people face to face because they are always on their phone. Teenager’s now days never even concentrate in class anymore as all they are thinking about is how many likes they are getting on a post on Instagram. This is very bad as it is affecting teen’s lives every single day. That is definitely not healthy for your mind or body. “One recent estimate claimed the average internet user has seven social media accounts — excluding email.” Said Angelo Young 2017. Experts say “people are losing the ability to talk to people, face to face and are getting more and more anxious talking to people and even friends and family in person.” Do you have a social media addiction? That is why teenagers now days should not be on social media, but learning, reading and playing sports so they do not get stuck in a social media addiction crisis.
Throughout Australia, social media addiction is getting worse and worse every year and it is affecting teenager’s lifestyle and their health. The internet has 4.4 billion users. There are 3.499 billion active social media users. According to the World Health Organization, in the year 2020, approximately 1.53 million people will die from suicide. There is increasing evidence that this behaviour of using social media affects and changes people's lives, especially in teenagers. This just comes to show that social media can kill you and really does affect your lifestyle. It is said that social media is disconnecting Australian teens from the reality of the world. Social media can also be very dangerous! “15 per cent of teenagers reported being contacted by strangers daily, and nearly 10 per cent said they actively communicated with, or responded to, strangers daily.” Said SBS news 2017. This can harm Australian teenager’s lifestyle by them communicating to strangers and the strangers finding out their personal information which can harm them in the long run. This can all start to happen by a social media addiction. This is why teenagers now days should not be on social media everyday so they do not get stuck in a social media addiction crisis.
Teens should not be allowed Social media until the age of 16 in Australia. At the age of 16 teens are usually finishing school and becoming an adult. This will stop social media affecting their learning process and their lifestyle as a teenager. People 16 years and above will be able to make their own life choices throughout social media as they will be taking a leap into adult hood. The creating teams of social media apps like Instagram, snapchat and more should make a system to stop people under the age of 16 on social media, and they should make it so teens under 16 can’t lie about their age. “Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and other “adult” sites would be for ages 16 and up, with access to the adult internet and its mainstream apps replacing the coming-of-age thrill of a first car in the coming era of automated driving.” Suggested the Atlantic, “You start doing things that are dishonest,” says Amanuel, who quit social media aged 16. “Like Instagram: I was presenting this dishonest version of myself, on a platform where most people were presenting dishonest versions of themselves.” The people who are the most honest about themselves do not play the game of Instagram,” Amanuel says. “The game of Instagram is who can maximise their likes by being the most risqué, outrageous or conformist as possible. I didn’t want to play that game.” This shows how not being on social media at under 16 helped teens be more honest and help with their overall lifestyle.
To sum up, Australian teenagers now days are not concentrating on their normal everyday life because social media is affecting teenagers. Teenagers are not concentrating in class, are losing the ability to talk face to face and losing interest in sports which Australia is known for. To stop this social media addiction from keeping teens from concentrating, social media apps need to have a higher age limit of 16 plus years so teens aged 12-15 can concentrate on school, sport and more. Teens in Australia aged 16 and above are quickly becoming adults which means, they will have to look after their own life choices. When you are still under 16 years of age you are not allowed social media, as it will distract you from your young teenage life. Australian Teenagers under the age of 16 cannot be on social media anymore as it is severely affecting their day to day life. Causing them to choose between social media, or a happy, healthy Australian lifestyle.
