Social Media Affecting Adolescents

Title
In the world, and specifically the United States, many adolescents and adults are struggling to communicate efficiently with the world through social media, and many more are feeling anxious because of what is seen on social media. These problems are affecting each individual whether they are choosing to be involved in social media or not because of the indirect effects it can have on: relationships, co-workers, and the everyday acquaintances. It is crucial to find a solution to this problem that social media is creating of: Causing adolescents to struggle communicating, and causing anxiety in teens because of body image pressures. In order to solve the problem, there are three verified solutions: Have parents be more attentive to children
One possible solution is to, have parents be more attentive to children when younger so they feel valued, and to set a good, personal example, with social media. Many researchers can agree that a lot of the reason adolescents are drawn into social media is so they can share their thoughts, ideas, and feel valued by getting a response and reaction. So the root of this solution is for adolescents to get this same feeling at home and to start from a very young age. (add quote about how children need attention or about what they do on social media) If parents are able to create an environment where children are able to grow up being listened to and feeling secure to talk about their ideas because they were engage with then they will be getting attention at home and not need social media as much to fill this attention void. The second part of the solution is that of parents setting a good example. Growing up in the 21st century, many children are ignored. Whether is be at the kitchen table, at a restaurant, in the car ,or with friends. Kids often get put to the side. And very often they are in second place to there parents phone. Quote about kids getting pushed to wayside. At dinner, it is common to see both parents on their phone while they play, and very often they are just on social media or conversing with others by texting. These children are being shown that it is okay to value others
If parents create an affluent area for children to thrive and grow and feel heard then they will never need to go beyond their own home. As Hübner points out, “Adolescents are longing for attention that prior generations received through school friendships and family” (288). Our current generation is receiving this attention now through social media. There are however, some side effects (if you will) of using social media as a replacement for this attention. Researchers, Julie Andsager, the author of, “Research Directions in Social Media and Body Image” and Dian A Vries, Jochen Peter, Hanneke Graaf, Peter Nikken, the authors’ of, “Adolescents' Social Network Site Use, Peer Appearance-Related Feedback, and Body Dissatisfaction: Testing a Mediation Model” agree that images found on social media of thin women cause young adolescents to strive to be thin and make them have negative thoughts towards their own bodies. “Trends are being found in the age bracket of 13-17 of desirable bodies found on social media and girls self esteem” (Andsager 411). These problems of body image and attention neediness can all be solved by giving kids attention at home. Although some parents may argue that this is harder said than done it is worth the effort to create confident