Social interactions have always been one of the meaningful aspects of life. Hanging out with friends has always been one of the happier moments of our childhood. So, we need to be able to find the time to laugh with them. For example, in medieval times, people would go to fancy dinner parties and balls, but nowadays we’ll go to a movie or the mall to shop. Yet, no matter what, we still manage to maintain an interaction where we talk, laugh and connect.

However, through the introduction of social media we are losing that connection. The things we say or “post” are less meaningful and kind than anything we would say in person. Not only do they destroy the joy of being in the presence of someone, but they also cause kids to waste time waiting for likes and comments or looking at other people’s profiles. Teens can have their eyes glued to their phone screens for hours on end and they cannot even look at a book for more than five minutes without losing interest. Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram should be taken away because they limit time with friends and family, distract students, put teens at risk of cyberbullying, and could be potentially dangerous to one’s privacy.

First, social networks restrict teens from engaging in a real conversation because they would rather be chatting or commenting on each other’s pictures. When they can so easily post to the whole world, why would they need to hangout with one or two friends? Social networks should not come before family and bonding with individual friends. According to O’Keefe, CEO and editor-in-chief of Pediatrics Now, "Kids' social spaces are shrinking. They don't have the places or the time to hang out like their parents did. Social media allows them to have time to reconnect. But, it has to be done in a way that's not all-encompassing” (Gordon). So, social networks should not take over teens’ lives. They should only give them a way to reconnect with friends or family they cannot easily see.

Social networks not only restrict time for close friends, but also limit bonding time for family. While teens type away in the comment section arguing with someone, family members may be talking to them and they would not even know it. Social networks do not allow them to focus on their family, yet family should be much more important. Family will take care of them eternally, but distant friends will not have much of an impact on their lives. Teens’ time is already limited due to many priorities such as homework. By spending it on social networks they have even less time for family.

Second, teens are wasting too much time on social networks instead of doing homework. They have lost a sense of priorities. Social media would not be much of a problem if students could put it after their priorities. Although social media allows teens to communicate with each other, it is not advantageous in any other way. Notification popping up on their phones will distract them when they need to focus. This will reduce their speed and cause them to finish their homework past their bedtime or not doing it at all. The lack of sleep affects their performance for days to come. Absorbing information, paying attention, and thinking straight all will be difficult when almost one fourth of teens are going on social media ten or more times a day (Gordon).

Another disadvantage to social media is cyberbullying. Being friends with almost everyone you know on Facebook can lead to a likelihood of being bullied. Cyberbullying can lead to many serious effects such as, anxiety, depression, isolation, and even suicide (O’Keefe). More than half of teens have been cyber bullied and have cyber bullied someone else (O’Keefe). What happened to valuing the kindness of others and being kind as well?

Finally, social media can lead to invasion of privacy. By posting one picture, a complete stranger now knows who you are and where you are. They can see the location of your device and that will lead them straight to you. Also, if a video or picture of you is uploaded onto the internet without your consent, it could spread rapidly which you may not want if it was embarrassing.

Recently, Twitter has divulged that they import their users contacts in order to acquire more information about their users (“Privacy Concerns with Social Networking Services”). This could potentially lead to a whole variety of information to be on this network. Many people just by displaying their name and birthday are at risk of identity theft which could lead to bankruptcy because of one stupid click of the mouse (“Privacy Concerns with Social Networking Services”).

Overall, teens become addicted to their social networks, completely oblivious of the fact that they could be at risk of cyberbullying, addiction, and identity theft. Social networks have lead to a wide range of problems which could have been avoided if teens picked up a book for the amount of time they would have spent scrolling through useless posts. Society would have been a whole lot smarter as well if they did not waste time on unintellectual networks.

Teens spend hours on their phones, addicted, mindlessly scrolling through endless tweets when they could be spending time with their family. The amount of time they put into checking each other’s statuses and writing theirs is too much. Students should be seeing their friends and family. They should be focusing on their homework, not tweeting about how much of it they have. Now, let’s put our phones down, pick up a book, complete our homework and spend time with our family.