Social media has been a reflex in human society with the continuous and increasing development in technology for years at a time now. Specifically in children today, the national average age of kids getting their first social media app is eleven years old.

Children should not be exposed to social media platforms at such a young age. Not only are they putting themselves out into a world of media-centered pleasures, but they are increasing their chances of having depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem issues.

“Kids see all these influencers as people to look up to on social media and they want to look like them,” Prisha Kattel (10) said.

Minors use social media influencers as a source of entertainment constantly so it’s not a surprise that they feed into what influencers advise, promote, and show on their platforms. This shows through their expression in style, makeup, language, and more.

“They [youth] take these trends they see on social media, act older than what they are occasionally, and have a different use of language as well,” Alana Behrens( 10) said.

With a reposting feature being present on almost all social media apps, trends are easily informed to the younger crowd. Trends end up fluctuating in the social media realm which leads to newer ideas being created and sent out for people to be attracted. 

Not only can social media take a mental toll on children nowadays, but a physical toll as well. For instance, kids that are using social media more are associated with getting less sleep and exercise. 

“If the weather is nice, they [youth] should be going outside and doing activities, maybe even pick up a book,” Emilia Wauthier said (10).

Yes, social media can be used as a tool for self-expression and a feeling of belonging. These benefits could be debatable. However, the harms need to have more awareness considering more and more kids that are younger in age each year are stepping into the world of social media. 

“At the age of kids nowadays, I was honestly super carefree and cared significantly less about social media,” Prisha Kattel said (10).

The exposure of social media to youth needs to be more restricted. The harms of these applications on childrens’ phones outweigh the benefits substantially.