Social media is a tough subject to talk about. Many young people are starting to use social media for many different reasons such as: talking with their friends, keeping up with day to day activities, gaining publicity and getting involved with the community. 

Social media can have many negative outcomes and problems. Different apps can cause issues for some people. At a young age in school, kids are just trying to fit in with others. They will lean towards doing the activities the majority of people are doing. Kids normally get a phone at the age of 10 through 14 years old. According to “The Washington post,” it says, “Your children could be ready for a smartphone or similar device anywhere from 10 to 14, or during middle school. A sixth-grader (typically 10 to 11 years old) could be a good start for considering a phone or a wearable.” 

Younger kids don’t fully understand the real world because they haven’t experienced it yet. Many will think that the world is a safe place and only horrible acts happen in movies, but that’s not the case. Different social media apps can cause big problems for kids. 

Some apps can lead kids to bullying each other. An app like Instagram is a big one because students make pages and accounts about different people which falls under the category of cyber bullying. Individuals are hiding behind a screen to say negative stuff about others for no reason. Lots of bullying can happen when drama starts in school. It has many effects on people, and it can travel through many social medias and create bigger problems. 

Online bullying can be a cause for suicide among younger people. According to “National Institutes of Health,” it says, “The participants who experienced cyberbullying were more than 4 times as likely to report thoughts of suicide and attempts as those who didn’t.” Being bullied online can also cause lots of mental health issues and can lead to suicide. When someone is bullied, it sticks with them and repeats in their head. It can really affect a person in bad ways that can lead them to end it if it gets super bad.

Social media can really do damage to someone’s mental health. However, so many people on social media are fake. It’s horrible because there are so many comments that determine who’s good enough and who’s not. They will judge and make fun of people who are authentic, real and not using filters. 

It can be a very horrible place for people, especially younger children, if they have these apps at a young age. Seeing all these influencers when they are just starting to grow can make them think that they aren’t good enough because they don’t look like those people. Some of them will compare themselves to famous celebrities and other humans on those apps who are posting themselves. That can cause the kids to want to look like them, and it can lead the kids to develop things like an eating disorder. If that person is really skinny and everyone is commenting on how they are so pretty, then certain people would want to look like that. They would be, at a young age, starting to hate themselves. Most girls, for example, hide and change their looks with makeup, and they do this because they don’t have much self-love for themselves, but kids shouldn’t be learning to hide stuff they don’t like by using makeup or filters. 

Sometimes that’s not the case, and social media at a young age can be good. There shouldn’t be an age limit to using social media. It can help younger kids connect with other people and build their social skills. It can allow them to express and be themselves. 

Being social can sometimes turn bad, when kids think they are making friends but don’t know who is really on the other side of the screen. Many online predators are looking for younger kids on social media apps. Some go for younger ones because they don’t know what they are doing or what is happening. They are young and do not understand the world yet and how some people are. This leads to kids being groomed at a young age and lots of them are getting sexually harassed. It is happening to them all because they thought they made a friend on an app. 

Many online predators look for younger people to meet up with. They make kids believe that they are their age by acting like it and using fake pictures for profiles. Younger kids aren’t always smart, and they don’t know many things when using social media. They will fall for those tricks of the internet and people using those apps. 

Social media should be a safe place for users of any age. It shouldn’t be a bad place where people are scared of using different apps, scared of finding online predators, being cyber bullied or doing something wrong. It should be used to be social with friends, be safe with others, spread kindness, connect with the community and keep up with the world. 

Social media should have an age limit because there are many negative things that younger kids should not see. A good age would be eleven years old for certain apps, but there should be different age limits for different apps. But a person should be mature while using it, and other people should be kind, safe and not doing anything that they wouldn’t want younger kids seeing. Social media can be used by anyone in any way, but should be used the right way. Be safe and smart when using social media.