Negative Essay: How Social Media Affects Youth

A prevailing issue plaguing the idea of how social media affects youth is the easy accessibility, which can often lead into a dependence or addiction. It’s not uncommon these days to see people constantly focused or even just holding their phones. Cell phones, with the ability to instantly message someone, receive email, and connect to people on the other side of the world, would be considered a miracle if it weren’t for the steady growth of technology that makes the shine something a little more common place. Still, the focus people have with their phones and the desire to always be “plugged in” has become a common fear among when it seems that youth engagement is often centered on a back lit screen and what information it might offer that

There are also a number of messages being sent and received via television. A recent national study of over 2000 children between and 8 and 18 years old found that American children spend an average of 7 hours a day consuming entertainment media (Martins & Harrison, 2012; Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). Consider how many shows are currently airing, and then consider how few of them have positive role models. Further, consider how many have positive leading characters that are people of color. Despite an abundance of television available, it’s severely lacking in diversity, and this, in itself, is a message that youth, and all viewers, are taking in, whether they’re consciously aware of it or not. A lack of positive people of color on television or in movies makes it difficult for youth of color to find people they see themselves in, or who they can model themselves after. If every role is filled with white protagonists, it becomes so common place that not seeing people of color suggests that they don’t take on those roles in society. That there are no people of color who are superheroes or lawyers or doctors or in other careers of high esteem. Further, when people of color are riddled with stereotypes and written as background characters with menial jobs, it suggests that this is where people of color are expected to end up. While we can’t personally change how the media is dealing with diversity and whitewashing so many of their movies, we can still make our voices heard and make sure children and youth are aware of it too. Boycotting movies that white-wash history (ie. Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez in ‘Argo’ or Christian Bale as Moses in ‘Exodus’), participating in petitions to demand more representation, making our voices heard on social media platforms about a lack of diversity in television and media, and spreading this to the youth so they can see that activism is happening,