In today's world, little kids are growing up too quickly due to the technologies available. 

 

In a world where social media is setting unrealistic beauty standards for kids, especially young girls, mental and physical health is declining. Eating disorders are occurring at younger ages because girls are comparing their bodies to famous influencers online, especially those on TikTok. Young girls are worried about themselves not looking as “thin” as the girls they constantly see online. A decade ago, this world did not exist, therefore the uptick of mental health is clearly linked to media usage.

 

Specifically, beauty standards and body image have changed due to social media. Girls feel the need to wear makeup at younger ages because they see people wearing it online. “Sephora 10-year-olds” are trending on the internet right now because older girls realize how absurd it is for 10-year-olds to be wearing makeup. What the older generations realize is that young girls haven't even gone through puberty yet, but are wearing concealer on their clear skin. Along with this, young girls feel the need to fit a particular body type, so they begin to workout to fit the mold. 

 

If this doesn’t point to a distortion on mental health, I do not know what does.It is both upsetting and insane to see that girls are going through this at young ages. They have their whole life to wear makeup and workout, meanwhile they are doing it so early in their lives to compete with others and keep up with social media’s definition of perfection. 

 

Thanks to social media and other technologies, kids are getting addicted to devices. They are getting phones as early as 3rd grade and have had other devices even before that. 

 

Less kids are playing outside with their neighbors because, now, they play online games as their form of interaction. If they are not playing online games, how else are they communicating with others and building social skills?

 

Constantly being on devices has also exposed children to mature content through social media, especially tik tok. Tik tok, an app that is not censored, is exposing kids to content above their age level. Though most of what is being said goes over their head, kids are smart, and constant exposure to mature information is unhealthy for the mind and peer relationships.

For example, because of what they see online, kids are getting “boyfriends and girlfriends” at younger ages. They are also exposed to politics and daily news which showcases negativity, violence and inappropriate content. At this age, they do not have established, well-informed and well-developed viewpoints, so they are quick to believe everything they see on social media. Again, this is dangerous. 

 

Overall, it seems that the root of the problem is screen time. In order to preserve our country’s youth, they should stay off devices and enjoy the world around them. What happened to playing in the street until mom calls children home for dinner or playing with dolls with their friends? 

 

Children should not be interacting with others through a video game. And, they DEFINITELY should not be exposed to social media taking the place of human relationships and shaping their mind and personal views.