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Roxanne Kleeberger
Academic Writing
Professor Wade
28 March 2025
The Effect of Social Media on Teenagers
First, let’s breakdown the article titled; Teens and social media use: What’s the impact? By
Mayo Clinic. This article uses many different references. All dated back to 2023. Using
professional input from other organizations such as the Pew Research Center, U. S Department
of Health and Human Services and American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
(AACAP). The second resource being used to in this evaluation is a resource Mayo Clinic uses
frequently. The American Psychological Association is a very reliable source. They use
resources that are verified and professional. Those resources are the following: FOSI, ACAMH,
International Journal of Multicultural Education, and nature. They also quite often use a book
titled Journal of Education Psychology written by Matthew Bernacki and edited by Panayiota
Kendeou. The current article I am using is titled social media brings benefits and risks to teens.
Psychology can help identify a path forward written by Kirsten Weir in 2023. A little about
Kirsten Weir, she is a freelance journalist. She has a degree in Biology. She has appeared in
newspapers, magazines, books and websites. In current time she does publications for Discover,
Popular Science, Psychology Today, and Scientific American Mind. The professionals over at
Mayo Clinic and American Psychological Association put together these articles together to
spread awareness of social media, Specifically, the benefits and harm it put on teens.
Going into depth, the Mayo Clinic article explains how social media benefits teenagers. Teens
who feel lonely can feel supported and heard through social media platforms. And chatrooms. in
addition to that. Social media can be a relief for some teenagers that are going through a stressful
period in their life. As well as teens that have medical conditions that are long term, social media
has proven to be a support. Teenagers also struggle with finding themselves and social media
helps explore that and express it. Another great benefit from social media is that it provides ways
to help identify mental health conditions. In fact, social media also makes it easy to find and seek
help regarding any body and mental health related concerns. Approximately 1/5 of teenagers
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experience a major chapter of depression in their life. Social media can help teens stay connected
while dealing with depression. Social media can be a healthy addition to a teenager's mental
health. However, it can also result in the opposite.
Although social media can be good for a teenager, the Mayo Clinic article dives into how it is
not. Social media can cause distraction from everyday life. Including subjects such as school,
family, and sleep. Which can quickly derail the mental health of a teenager. There is also a dark
side to social media/ the Internet. Teens that struggle with mental health can be faced with cyber
bullying, predators, views about themselves and/or their body. This could lead to higher chances
of a derail of mental health, and existing mental health conditions. A study was done in 2013 and
2014 with about 6500 participants. This study focused on how “spending three hours a day on
social media was linked to. A higher risk of mental concerns.” (Mayo, pg.2). Some research has
proven social media to be a link to poor mental health. But not every study has.
Mayo Clinic strives to not to be biased in their articles. In similarity so does the American
Psychology Association. In contrast to the Mayo Clinic now we will dissect APA’s article.
1. How it is similar, and new information then before
2. Quotes from Jacqueline Nesi (PhD)
3. Relevance to Evaluation
4. More recommendations on how to navigate social media
5. Connect with conclusion and why this evaluation is being written
In conclusion, social media can go both ways in affecting a teenager's mental health. This
article gives final tips on While it can be important to a teenager's ability to socialize, feel
connected, it can do the opposite. The best way to ensure the mental health of teenagers is to set
boundaries. Whether that be from parents or just personal boundaries to keep in check. This can
be done by setting screen time limits and times they can and cannot be on it. Such as late at night
to ensure a good night's rest. Turning on privacy settings and monitoring teens' accounts has
proven to be helpful. One of the most important ways to ensure teens don’t fall on the bad side of
social media is communication. Explaining what is and is not a good habit can be detrimental to
a growing mindset. Finally, being a positive and good role model is essential for good mental
health.
