The impact of media on adolescents
Over the past decades, there has been a series of studies that focused on the impact of media on adolescents, unfortunately somewhat paradoxically, there is still much to learn. These studies have reflected a chain of gaps in human knowledge due to the dramatic change among young population media use. According to historical studies, in the 1990s, teenagers spent roughly four hours a day engaged in social media – the statistical analysis on media use sky-rocketed to approximately six hours a day for kids and nine-hours a day for teenagers (Dirandeh et al. 121). Also, according to studies conducted over the years, social media has registered a series of positive as well as negative outcomes; unfortunately, the paper analyzes the adverse impacts.
According to current studies, media use plays an integral and essential part of the day to day activity of adolescents. The increase in the use of social media has increased over the years (Valkenburg & Piotrowski 78-79; Gaidhane et al. 57). These issues can be classified under cyber-bullying, psychological disorder, texting or sexting, the harm of sexual solicitation as well as exposure to problematic and illegal literature and privacy violation (Kapoor et al. 538). Most studies have focused their channels into understanding the norms of texting or sexting. According to Victor, while several young teens use messaging responsibly, it is one of the most used powerful and private communication utility since it is being utilized by irresponsibility (72). Next, cyber-bullying has been a stressor that causes emotional distress, harassment, communication humiliation and youth attempted suicide.
To conclude, the literature that covers the impact of media among youths is massive, with some considering the gaps as one of the flaws of the study. According to the analyzed studies, the studies highlighted that social media use could either promote positive or negative cognitive and behavioral change among teens.