Excessive and Imprudent Social Media Usage by Indonesian Teenagers Leads to Depression If you have the chance to be a happy and successful person that contributes greatly to the country, what will you do? If you choose to waste your time by heavily using your social media accounts, then you’re choosing to live a depressing life. As the research conducted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicines states, the more time teenagers use social media, the more likely they are to be depressed. If we’re talking about teenage social media depression, it’s heavily linked to the excessive and imprudent usage of social media. According to Cambridge Dictionary, excessive means too much and imprudent means not showing care for the consequences of …show more content…
The fact that social media platforms allow teenagers to communicate indirectly only makes it easier to be cruel to others. Psychologist Dr. Donna Wick mentioned that teenagers text all sorts of things that many people would never contemplate saying to anyone’s face. They judge other people’s looks and lives. They post hurtful and mean comments; moreover, they also spread false rumors. This will mentally hurt the bullying victim. It may lead to heavy depression, or even worse, suicide. According to the study conducted by NoBullying.com, as of 2011 on Facebook alone, 25% of teenage girls and 17% of teenage boys have been victims of cyberbullying. 13% of teens said they had an experience on social media that made them feel nervous about going to school the next day. Teenagers that are experiencing mental issues such as depression will experience difficulty in concentrating, remembering details, and making decisions. They will become pessimistic individuals and they won’t be able to maximize their potential. This means depression and anxiety clearly hamper teenagers’ daily …show more content…
Parents can create social media accounts to monitor their teens. As an encouraging finding from CNN study showed that kids whose parents were more involved in their social media lives were less likely to remain upset about something that happened online. Parents can remind their teens to think carefully before posting anything on social media and encourage them to put their phones away to do something else, go shopping, head outside, or have fun in other ways. 2. Schools can socialize about “Social Media Depression” to the students. Teachers can provide counseling for students that are being bullied and are concerned about their popularity or the number of ‘likes’ they get. Teachers need to encourage students to change their jealousy and self-criticism behavior. Instead of criticizing themselves for not getting as much ‘likes’ as their friends, it’s better to make it as an inspiration for being a better person. 3. The government can create self-harm hospitals or institutions which specifically take care of people that self-harmed. Depressed teenagers are mentally damaged and very prone to self-harming and suicide attempts. If they are given proper treatment at specific hospitals or institutions, they can recover their mental state and they can fully develop into healthy