Is social media fueling a national epidemic of teen suicide?
The article is about the influence of social media on teenagers. Two of the teens were from Plano High School in Texas while the others were from a prestigious preparatory boy’s school in New York. These are just a few of the deaths that the article has highlighted among the disturbing increase in suicide among the young people. The trend has risen by thirteen percent since 2010. The article will seek to explore the issues affecting the teens that push them to commit suicide (Ablow prg 1).
The article discusses the social psychology topics that are a disconnection and struggle to connect with young people. Adolescents and teenagers who are in their twenties experience a form of detachment from the realism of their being. This is whereby they do not live their lives in truth, but rather try to copy from other sources. The various social media platforms are to blame for this worrying trend of disconnection. The platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have caused to young teens to think they are mini-reality versions of TV of themselves. The teens engage in a series of flickering photos and videos that they find on these platforms and even see their lives as being similar to the photos and videos. Admiration and formal confirmation of their narrow existence are what these teens possess. These elements then come in the form of the number of ‘likes’ they obtain on Facebook and ‘retweets’ they get from Twitter (Ablow prg 3).
The value that the teens have assigned to life and in particular their own is also a cause for them to be affected by the social media platforms. The real meaning of life to them has been substituted by the media. Their self-esteem is therefore at stake as well as their capability to sustain themselves through difficulty hence cheapening their value to life (Ablow prg 4).
This young generation has then been entertaining the idea of killing themselves since they do not feel as if they are truly alive. Such deaths are not usually grieved for long just like the way people do not mourn for the deaths of the false personality in the films. The young people are faced with the same risk of viewing themselves as only an object, hence disregarding their true value (prg 5).
The article discusses the struggle to connect with the trends on social media have pushed the teens to engage further in drug abuse. They develop strange feelings to the point of consuming substances such as heroin. These drugs are seen to be almost equal to the social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. By consuming them, they feel as if they have gone back to their real version of reality in life which entails active engagement in social media (Ablow prg 7).
The concept to feel fully satisfied and accepted the society has further caused the young people to engage in active sex. This has also been seen as a way to protect themselves from any form of criticism of the society. They have many partners and in this way they say they want to live fully (Ablow prg 8). To get to reality, the teens should, however, understand that the social media channels will not achieve that purpose. The young people have made themselves be disciples of technology, according to the article. The friends who express their grief whenever others commit suicide are also promoting the trend even more (Ablow prg 9).
The article begins by posing the question on which can be said to be the most difficult years for a mother while bringing up a child. They then propose infancy due to the numerous efforts required in dealing with a newborn baby. The process entails not getting any sleep. There is an argument that adolescence is one of the toughest times and especially the years in high school. The most stressful time has been seen to be the middle school years. This is according to a new study that was conducted by researchers (Wallace prg 1 and 2).
The social topics discussed in the article are stress and loneliness that are caused by the children. The young children in middle school have a variety of hormones in them. Their brains and bodies are also undergoing changes. The risk of peer pressure is also evident in these group accompanied with the exposure to drugs. There is also the aspiration to be independent at this age and it causes them to clash with their parents whom they still must be dependent on (Wallace prg 6).
Parents and guardians are faced with defiance and rejection from their children during this age. For instance, they do not want to be questioned about anything or even assisted in their activities. The children at this age usually undergo problems in school and even go home crying, but when approached to be helped, they do not welcome the gesture from their parents. In such situations, the parents feel rejected by their kids and develop stress since they do not know what is wrong with them (Wallace prg 7).
The experiences described by the parents are such as having good kids at one time then the next day, it's like they have turned into aliens. They can no longer be understood by their parents, and any attempt to confront them is faced with rejection. Parents who want to engage actively in activities with their children at this age then get the feeling of rejection (Wallace prg 9).
A middle school teacher described the way she sees the parents of these children when they are faced with rejection by their parents. They gave the notion of the mothers being highly stressed and nervous. They also seem stranded and do not know what to do (Wallace prg 10).
Learning changes that are happening in children is significant to understand why the children are behaving in that particular manner at that stage. For instance knowing that the kid has created an identity that does not involve the parent can be one way to accept the kid has changed. In this way, when the mother sees the child engaging in active conversations with their peers and isolating them, then they will not feel stressed or lonely (Wallace prg 14).
The article further asserts that mothers are going through a ‘middle age construction project’ when their children are at the middle school level. This refers to the changes that they are also undergoing. For instance, at this time, they may be thinking of going back to work in case they usually stay at home. They may also be adjusting to growing old and no longer being the center of the lives of their children (Wallace prg 17).
The article concludes by saying that during this period when kids are in middle school, mothers should ensure that they are doing something that they love such as a hobby. Having something to focus on is essential since it will divide their attention and that will make them happy hence reducing stress (Wallace prg 19).
Works Cited
Ablow, Dr Keith. Is social media fueling a national epidemic of teen suicide? 11 February 2016. 18 March 2016 <http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/02/11/is-social-media-fueling-national-epidemic-teen-suicide.html>.
Wallace, Kelly. Middle School: The new high school for moms. 27 January 2016. 18 March 2016 <http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/27/health/middle-school-stress-mothers-research/>.
