As the sight of students scrolling on their phones grows more commonplace on campus, it is clear students at CHS are consuming too much social media. While there is a group that vehemently defends their social media screentime, a portion of students have admitted that their usage of social media is unhealthy, yet they do not resolve this issue. The reality of consuming less social media requires individuals to fill their time elsewhere, and while initially uncomfortable, it is more productive than constantly scrolling. Students at school must cease their overconsumption of social media and find alternative forms of entertainment.
Social media has no intrinsic value and can distract from reality. Every major platform runs on an algorithm of short-form content and ephemeral trends. The consistent influx of seemingly new content pulls student focus away from important aspects of school such as community and academics. At the few school-wide events CHS has, like pep rallies, it is not uncommon to see students more engaged with their phone. As for academics, students casually admit to constant A.I. usage, and its popularity is in part due to social media. A.I. aside, despite having to read on social media, Carter’s reading proficiency, according to US News, is around 37%. While correlation is not causation, it perhaps indicates that whatever students are reading online serves as a detriment to their academics, specifically their literary skills.
Social media also instills negative habits. The sheer plethora of content on social media gives students an outlet to news, although oftentimes the information circulating is false, so individuals grow accustomed to receiving information at face value as opposed to thinking for themselves.
Inevitably, some students will claim social media is meant for fun, and I agree that I do utilize social media for the same purpose; however, I set a screentime. Although the suggestion is cliche, it truly does make a difference: I procrastinate less and I feel inspired to engage more thoroughly in my hobbies. If you feel dependent on social media, then I prompt you to discover what makes social media fun for you, then engage with that aspect in reality. My own personal example is that I like writing, so rather than reading the works of others and comparing myself to them, I began to write independently and found more fun in it. I would like to clarify that social media can be utilized as a tool – such as networking – but I would wager that a minority of students at school use it for that task, which is a problem.
While a difficult task, students must be more mindful of how they consume social media in order to create a better version of themselves.
