Social media taken public storm
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In the past decade, social media has taken the world by storm. As a way to communicate with friends, family, and strangers alike, social media reduces the need for face to face interactions and introduces a world entered using only the touch of a finger. It is estimated that 69% of teens, aged 12 to 18, own their own computer and/or smartphone and 80% of those teens are active on one or more social media sites (Laird, 2012). Thus, a good portion of this generation’s social and emotional development is occurring while engaged on social media. We don’t always know if what teens are accessing are influencing them more positively or negatively, but what we do know is that teenagers are short on white matter, the tissue that ensures efficient and steady coordination throughout the brain. The connections between the rest of the brain and the frontal lobe, which is charged with foreseeing the consequences of one’s actions and differentiating between good and bad, don’t fully form until their twenties (Steinberg, 2007). Therefore, they are more likely to act on impulse without realizing there are consequences. Due to their limited capacity for self-regulation and susceptibility to peer pressure, teens are at risk as they navigate the realms of social media. Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for individuals aged 10 to 24 and results in about 4,600 deaths annually (Laird, 2012). The effects of social media impact this rate of occurrence in several ways. Cyberbullying is