Solution of Social Media Addiction Essay

According to Pew Research Center, almost 90 percent of the people aged 18 to 29 years use social media in any available form, and 15 percent of the ages 23 to 18 years admit their high usage, out of which females are the most addicted ones (Maya). Who should be concerned with this type of addiction? It could be positively of concern for the marketing agencies and the people behind managing special media platforms. Also, it could be negatively of concern to the individuals themselves who are the most proficient users of social media and their parents or families. 

Social media addiction is a behavioral addiction that has major risk factors, such as girls being more addicted to internet usage due to lower body satisfaction, extraversion, narcissism, or higher physical attractiveness (Perris et al. 13-15). Girls’ social interaction is more evident through social media, whereas boys use it more for online gaming. Girls try it to use for physical attraction through their picture on social media platforms as extraversion is the personality trait they want to exhibit in these social lives. Personality differences and psychological impacts have been different for different adolescents in the prediction of internet addiction. Further, the geek behavior or online peer groups are more apparent among individuals with personality traits of narcissism and neuroticism. Several personality traits come into play in geek behavior or online peer involvement both in boys and girls, specifically of older age. 

The thesis statement of this paper, therefore, stands as: “Parents of teenage girls, school management and school counseling workers should be vigilant about teenage girls’ mental health showing high usage of social media and high involvement in online peer groups.”

Qualitative research based on the prior research studies indicated clearly that problematic use or high addictive use of social media is associated with high depression among females, especially at a young age (Vidal et al., 243). The high risky behavior in females with the use of certain social media usage patterns, such as high screen time at night or more than two hours a day, has to be regulated to avoid adverse mental health conditions. There was another contrasting finding in the same study that young males and females who were getting online peer support through their depression showed less depressive symptoms with time as they were able to discuss their problems with online peers that they could not do otherwise in real life.

An informative study revealed that out of the total world population of 7.7 billion, Facebook users are 2.7 billion in which most of the adolescents have one active profile among other online social media profiles such as Instagram, Twitter, Snap chat, etc. where they disclose their private life and intimate information online (Perkovich 3). Along with this, to keep mental sanity from getting affected by the overwhelming use of social media, it is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics not to use screen time more than two hours a day (Perkovich 3). It is suggested that self-esteem, a person’s ability to view oneself with certain qualities and characteristics in the personality as a perception of others, is affected if social media image is not positive. According to the latest CDC data, anxiety and depression are the second leading cause of 6,200 deaths of the age group 15 to 24 years in the year 2017 (Perkovich 5). However, research has pointed out an interesting fact that social media addiction is high when it is used for entertainment purposes. In contrast, its usage for social interaction is positively associated with subjective well-being, especially…

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…School counselors could bridge the gap of communication between parents and students due to which parents usually remain unaware of the psychological difficulties their children are going through. Discovering the problem at its initial stage could be a useful strategy that school counselors could sense in social media addiction or possible cyberbullying for adolescent girls. Besides, school nurses provide primary aid in sensing mental health problems, which they perceive is not emphasized (Anttila et al. 1). Though school nurses have identified that building trust relationships with adolescents and motivating them to come for monthly check-ups is a chief barrier; however, this could be eliminated with increased communication and certifying confidentiality. Once the parents are aware of the problem, which is usually unlikely as adolescents do not open up about their mental health problems even to their parents, they provide influential support to their children (Hassett, Green and Zundel 1). Some parents do feel social stigma in realizing that their child requires psychological help, for which they try to suppress the issue (Villatoro et al. 90). Still, when adolescents initiate the help-seeking process, they gain the confidence to seek help independently in the future. 

Limiting internet accessibility within the schools should be a new regulatory policy so that less screen time is ensured. Government should pass bills that should prohibit schools that do so. Collaborations with internet-providing companies to put restrictions on certain social media sites for adolescents should be guaranteed for decreasing their social media use that creates impacts on their self-esteem and suicidal drift. Additionally, school counselors and healthcare providers, including school nurses responsible for collaborating with parents of teenagers to advocate for their better childcare and health facilities for physical and mental well-being, could be important sources of support for lowering the rates of depression and possible suicides…