Technology And Teen Stress: We Must Do Better

The future of technology is upon us and we still can’t comprehend how it affects us. Every day, companies like Apple, Samsung and LG are coming up with new and enhanced tech to cause digital insanity amongst customers. The effect of technology is expected to become worse over time but it’s our decisions that can change the course of this addiction. Teens, the main target for most phone companies, are known to be the most affected by these gadgets. Some believe that we can lower the percentage of teens going through depression, anxiety and stress by putting a stop to the overuse on technology. If we believe that technology is a problem now then we will never be prepared for the impending doom in store for us. We are blind to the amount of time spent on our phones that it’s become more of a necessity than a desire. Today's teens are more stressed out than previous generations and the adults of this century don’t understand why.

Fisher Price, a trusted brand that designs educational toys for infants and toddlers, made a baby bouncing seat that holds an iPad in front of the child's face (Samantha Pyles, 2014). Not only is this harm to the child's eyes but it also allows them to grow up in a world where they are constantly surrounded by technology. According to the Cross Platform in Future Technology of 2017, the average amount of time spent on our phones is 4 hours and 31 minutes a day but 66% of that time is spent on social media. If we were to be on social media everyday as much as we are now then we would have spent 5 years and 4 months of our lives just on social media alone. In 5 years and 4 months, we can fly to the moon and back 32 times, run more than 10,000 marathons and watch the Simpsons series 215 times (ComScore, 2017).

All the minutes spent on apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and Youtube allows anyone to go online and speak their minds. Social media is not the only devil that takes the souls of teens even though that’s what many tend to believe (Marie Weise, 2016; Samantha Pyle, 2014). It also has to do with the group of people using these apps. Teenagers love socializing especially if it doesn’t have to be in person which gives them a slate to say whatever they want. They have the option of lifting someone or something up or tearing it down into the ground. Not only can it open opportunity for bullying but people can spread certain images around that may make teens of today feel like they need to “look” or “be” a certain way. So teens feel pressured and stressed because they can’t meet social expectations. The use of social media gets higher by 13% every year (Aaron Smith and Monica Anderson, 2018) which means so does social expectations and sooner than later we will have plasticated and Instagram famous teens all around us. We can walk down the street and count at least 6 people looking down at their phones, but in the future we may never meet eyes with a stranger on the street because we’ll all be eye-glued to our gadgets.

Technology will be raising our children (Samantha Pyre, 2014). In the future, most if not all teenagers are bound to have their old drunk party pictures pop up or embarrassing messages between them and a crush. But teens aren’t aware that their social life can also ruin their potential career as well. Many jobs, especially in 2018, aren't focused on the person sitting in front of them trying to act put together to get a good job but they’re interested in who you really are (Huffington Post, Kim, 2013). Even if it means they have to look you up and find your old pictures on social media accounts. Kim Garst of Huffington Post says, “ I mean that once you hit the “send”, “enter”, “post” or “update” button on a social media site, you can no longer control who sees that picture, post, editorial comment or crazy video. It belongs to the free world, even if you instantly have remorse and try to recall, delete or otherwise eliminate it. ” When we delete photos, where do they go? And if someone else has those photos in their phone then who else did they send it to? These are the questions we should be asking but teens decide to take any photo they can and post it all over social media. Some teenagers are also sending inappropriate photos to each other which causes problems in itself but do you really want your boss to see them too? Teenagers fail to realize that what they send can prevent them from getting a job.

A recent study from Ooyala shows that mobile and video consumption increased by 133% in 2014. We are now approaching the year 2018 and who's to say that the increase percentage won’t get higher and higher every year that passes? Later on, kids and teens won’t be able to stand taking a 3 minute car ride to the store without technology in their hands. This is what we call addiction. Matthew Berritt, a student, went to CBS explaining his addiction to his phone. "To be honest, I'm never without it. I know I'm addicted, because I know without it, I do have withdrawal," and according to Dr. Michael Dow, “The more connected we are the less we’re connecting. Too much smartphone use, not only cause people to disconnect from reality, but smartphone withdrawal can cause physical symptoms, such as anxiety, insomnia, and even depression. ” Teens of this day and age believe that it’s normal to want to be with a phone all day but it’s actually unhealthy for our mental and physical health. Phones buying rate went from 306 million to 2 billion in the span of 6 years (2010-2016) which indicates that we are getting more and more addicted to the technology being made so we buy every new gadget that comes out onto the market. Teens are stubborn and we can’t do anything about it. But there are ways to stop the future from getting abducted by technology and social media.

Not all 7. 7 billion people in the world will be on board with the solutions given at hand but if some of us began to work hard towards change then that’s good enough. We could make social media more secure. Apps such as Instagram allows you to remove tags from photos, keep your page private, and email you if there is any suspicious activity on your account. We have to know when to put our phones down and take control. We tend to believe that we can’t go anywhere without our phone but we need to get in a mindset where technology isn’t everything. Be a trend setter and not a follower. Be your own person, it allows you to gain confidence instead of gaining insecurities from following someone else. We must respect the use of the internet. Things such as cyber-bullying and graphic nudity have to stop. The internet needs to become more positive to make a clear future. Let kids be kids because we can’t allow this world to be left in the hands of entitled teenagers who grew up around screens. And let time spent on technology have a good impact such as educational apps. If we work hard toward this goal, I believe that we can overcome the terror of technology and social media.