Do you remember when you first started using social media? It was likely before you were supposed to because you didn’t want to be left out. It may have seemed overwhelming at first from the sheer amount of information available. But do you really think you were ready to be exposed to this? The fake news, the hate online, the firsthand accounts of what is happening in our world. Probably not, but you weren’t the only one. It is hard to prepare a teenager for that, and we need to do better.
It used to be common, before social media, for many teens to not be as involved in common political events occurring, simply because they weren’t directly involved or informed. But now, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, almost half of teens aged 14 to 17 engage in some form of media creation relating to political issues.
This is why it is more important than ever to teach kids about basic morals before they are allowed to jump into current politics.
Many people can find it difficult to know how to teach their kids about the important things happening around them without instilling fear, but using historical examples may be a good option. We have seen in recent years that the current major events, such as deportations, inflation and widespread bans, have mirrored other events from the past. So why not use the historical examples of these events to teach right and wrongs.
This way, when these kids get to an age of hearing about what is currently happening, they will not be as afraid or anxious since they have seen what problems we have faced and, more importantly, how we have overcome them.
Teens that have these established morals are much less likely to be susceptible to influence from social media.
If young teens are thrown into a highly political setting like social media without having a good understanding of what it is that they value, how will they navigate that without simply echoing the opinions they are seeing?
“Everyone should be evaluating why they think the way they do,” said English teacher Stacy Rockweiler. “Are these your own thoughts or have algorithms manipulated your thoughts?”
Even now, adults and older teens have admitted to not actively seeking out differing opinions, and they don’t realize the impact this is having on their own thinking.
“If [a social media post] was opposite to my opinion,” said junior Devin Hull, “I wouldn’t look at it or watch it because I already know what I believe in.”
We are separate from social media, and our thoughts should be too, which is what we need to be teaching the current youth.
Teens have become very dependent on social media for their news, but this is only adding to the problem of not having an understanding of their own ideals.
Social media is not an unbiased source, and it is not always a credible source. However, according to the Springtide Research Institute, 35% of teens ages 13 to 17 use social media to get their news.
This could be potentially dangerous because it adds to the misinformation that only confuses teens more. Clearly, teens have the odds stacked against them when it comes to keeping a strong understanding of their values, but their own dependence on these apps itself are making the problem worse.
There needs to be a degree of separation.
We are living in a new age of social media where everyday the dependence on these apps grows, and older generations need to adapt to this. They need to teach their kids at younger ages how to form a sense of self, which is easier said than done, but of extreme importance.
These are the kids that will grow into our leaders, and if they don’t have the proper guidance in separating their thoughts from those they see on the internet, we could see major consequences moving forward.