Some people might say that social media doesn’t affect teenagers, while others say that social media changes a lot in a teenager, such as the way they act towards really anything.

 Social media can disengage students with their own education, and they start worrying about things that they have no control over and things that don’t really matter in their future. 

“I think that not being able to have phones out during classes helps a lot as long as teachers enforce it and kids learn from it,” said agriculture teacher Zach Roberts. “I think social media puts students into a false sense of engagement, and they’re not really engaged with real life around them or they are not focused about their education because of social media being all they want to do or all they involve themselves in.” 

According to a June 2023 article. “Everyone says social media is bad for teens. Proving it is another thing.” It states that scientists have voiced their concerns but with little research there not much that could be proved. It has been said that “research has not yet shown which sites, apps or features of social media have which effects on mental health.”  The New York Times interviewed a Psychologist at the University Of Pittsburgh she said “We don’t have enough evidence to tell parents to get rid of a particular app, or cut it off after a particular number of hours.” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/17/upshot/social-media-teen-mental-health.html 

Some students don’t like the ideas on how some people think social media affects teens and how teens are addicted to their phones but sometimes having your phone or social media can be needed.

“Many people still have their phones out, and teachers just don’t know that phones are desperately needed,” said sophomore Marianna Simpson. 

 Social media can have a positive and negative impact on teenagers. Mainly during school, people are not using their phone or social media in a positive way. But there are certain circumstances where having your phone or social media to send a quick text is important, like if something at school is happening, if you need to tell someone you have to stay after school, or if you need a ride from a club or practice, but during some circumstances it is not as important and can wait until later. 

“I think it could potentially be negative,” said English teacher Alicia Dehaan. “If a teen overall doesn’t have a good sense of who they are, I think it can have a negative impact on them because they might try to act like or be someone else.”

It could be argued that it has a positive or negative impact on teens but sometimes it is not only one or the other it could potentially have both positive and negative effects.

“I think that social media has both a positive and negative impact on teens, but it also depends on the situation,” said Simpson.

Some teens think that having your phone out to send a quick message is important or is ok, but in some cases that is not true. There are certain situations where you can bring your phone out to send a quick message, but there is also a time of place where it could wait till you are in the halls, during lunch, or during your own time.

“I think I should be able to send a quick message without having to worry about my phone being taken during class,” said  sophomore Caitlyn Hood. 

You should always wait until it’s a good time to get on your phone to text or even to get on it, like if you are in class, your mind should not be on your phone or who is texting you. It could probably wait till you leave and just wait till it’s a good time.

“I personally think that if it is just a quick text, it could wait till you either leave school or you leave the classroom,” said Dehaan. 

When the new school year started, some schools did not even allow students to bring their phones into school. Some people think that not having your phones on yourself would benefit from having more engagement in a place or classroom and it would help students pay attention.

“I think y’all, as students here at school, would benefit by not even bringing your phones to school,” said English teacher Renee Harless.