Social media started off as a fun way to share happenings in someone's life or to network with your fellow college students. It was not something that was a necessity. Today, you might miss out on important updates from your friends and family, or what everyone is talking about at work or school. Everyone from tweens to the elderly has some form of social media. According to Pew (2022), 35% of US teenagers say they are constantly on either YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, or Facebook.
I believe that social media use should be discussed, analyzed, and utilized in a digital citizenship curriculum for schools. Productive social media use can teach students about proper online communication, sharing opinions versus sharing facts, and wading through misinformation. However, we must also teach our students to step away from social media for their mental health. "Digital media done 'well' can become psychologically problematic for users. In fact, from a corporate perspective, digital media is done best when it is most damaging to its users and keeps them coming back for more" (Lawrence, 2022, p. 54). Social media is designed for its users to keep coming back, which makes most of us addicted to scrolling. "... students are engaging in problematic social media usage, which is defined by an excessive reliance on social media that is motivated by intense emotions (Ahmed et al.,2021; Jafarkarimi et al., 2016)" (Ganie et. al., 2026, p. 2).
Something that students will also have to grapple with is how social media affects their mental health. Below is a video where students discuss how social media has affected their mental health.
(TODAY, 2023)
Being served visuals of what is an unattainable and unrealistic beauty standard at a very impressionable age causes mental health struggles. Cyberbullying can also cause anyone emotional distress, but especially those in their early teens, when emotions can be very high. "It's important to note that many studies conducted in psychology have shown that K-12 students who feel pressured to respond immediately to their phone notifications and social media activity report much higher levels of stress" (Lawrence, 2022, p. 57). Having to respond to constant notifications or social media drama can cause damage to a growing mind.
Alabama and its state government passed a new law that aims to help the situation at least in schools. The Focus law that went into effect for this school year bans cell phone use in K-12 schools during the school day. Many teachers and administrators have seen the shift to a focus on student schoolwork and peer communication. Although this might help mitigate any effects of social media during the day, that doesn't keep students from using it when they are not in school.
The youngest age to get a social media account should be at least sixteen, so that students can get past the sensitive time of early teenage years. There should also be better accountability to make sure that even younger children are not getting an account. There should be a form of social media that could be just for kids that could teach them digital media, while keeping them safe. Teachers and other educational leaders need to take into account students' mental health when deciding to use social media in the classroom. "Students who use social media problematically suffer from mental and physical health issues in addition to negative effects on their personal and academic lives (Ali Homaid, 2022; Boer et al., 2020; Henzel & Håkansson, 2021; Paakkari et al., 2021)" (Ganie et. al. 2026, p. 2). Although I think teaching students how to use social media in a healthy way is important, all of the pros and cons need to be assessed.
The research and literature are clear: social media affects our students' mental health, but it can also be something that students learn from in many ways. Through a robust digital citizenship curriculum and adult support and boundaries, students can mitigate the risk of cyberbullying and anxiety, learning to use social media healthily.
Below is my example of social media interaction related to education. It is a screenshot of a friend of mine from high school on Facebook. She is an AP history teacher, obviously teaching high school. Her Facebook account is private, but she celebrates many wins and the day-to-day events of her students
References
Facebook Post (2025, 6 November) Teacher's Facebook Post [screenshot of Facebook post] retrieved March 31, 2026.
Ganie, A. U., Paul, F. A., & Lone, A. A. (2026). ‘echoes in the feed, silence in the soul': A narrative synthesis of mental health, social media and loneliness in global university students. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2026.2645953.
Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital Writing: A Guide to writing for Social Media and the web. Broadview Press.
TODAY. (2023, October 20). Teens open up about the impact of social media on their lives [Video]. YouTube.
Vogels, E. A., Gelles-Watnick, R., & Massarat, N. (2022, August 10). Teens, social media and technology 2022. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/.
I really appreciated how you highlighted the connection between social media use and student mental health. What stood out most was how you avoided framing social media as entirely negative and instead focused on how its impact depends on how it is used. That balance is important, especially since students are constantly navigating these spaces.
ReplyDeleteThis connects well with (Lawrence, 2022), which emphasizes that digital environments require intentional use and strong awareness of audience and purpose. When students are simply consuming content, the experience differs significantly from when they are actively creating, interacting, and engaging with ideas.
Recent research also supports this more nuanced perspective. Studies indicate that social media can support learning and engagement when it is intentionally integrated into educational contexts and structured around meaningful interaction (Perez et al., 2023). Additionally, engagement in digital spaces can be understood through measurable forms of participation and interaction, reinforcing the importance of guiding students toward purposeful use rather than passive consumption (Tarifa-Rodriguez et al., 2024).
I also appreciated your focus on awareness. Helping students understand how their social media use affects their thinking, behavior, and well-being is just as important as monitoring usage itself. This is where educators can play a critical role by supporting students in developing habits that promote positive and productive engagement.
Overall, your post reinforces an important idea: social media itself is not inherently harmful or beneficial—it is the way it is used and guided that ultimately shapes its impact.
References
Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital writing: A guide on writing for digital media and the web. Broadview Press.
Perez, E., Manca, S., Fernández-Pascual, R., & Mc Guckin, C. (2023). A systematic review of social media as a teaching and learning tool in higher education: A theoretical grounding perspective. Education and Information Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11647-2
Tarifa-Rodriguez, A., et al. (2024). Quantitative indices of student social media engagement in tertiary education: A review and taxonomic framework. The Journal of Behavioral Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-023-09516-6
I like how you balanced both the benefits and challenges of social media, especially your focus on mental health. Your point about students needing guidance rather than complete restriction really stood out.
ReplyDeleteYour post connects well to Turner and Hicks (2017), who emphasize that digital spaces require thoughtful engagement, not just participation. Social media isn’t just about posting—it’s about how users interpret and respond to information. I also like how you brought in mental health, which adds an important layer to digital writing that isn’t always discussed. Research supports this idea, showing that social media can influence both learning and well-being depending on how it’s used (Ansari & Khan, 2020).
One thing I’m wondering is how you think teachers can realistically teach healthy social media habits while students are still heavily using these platforms outside of school?
References
Turner, K. H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the real world: Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts. Heinemann.
Ansari, J. A. N., & Khan, N. A. (2020). Exploring the role of social media in collaborative learning: The new domain of learning. Smart Learning Environments, 7(9). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-020-00118-7
Hello Laura,
ReplyDeleteIn your blog post, you made very good points about how social media should be utilized in schools but must be controlled for the sake of our student’s mental health. Though efforts are being made to address mental health more effectively in schools, it is still important to discuss how our student’s mental health is being affected, particularly by digital media. The extreme amount of time that students spend on social media can lead to a weakened ability to communicate in person and create a sort of addiction for our students. Even without considering the stress that constantly being active on social media causes students, there is still the factor of cyberbullying, which is a topic I feel is now neglected. Our students rely on social media for communication and thus, validation. When this communication is harmful, our student’s mental health suffers. We ought to make greater efforts to address this aspect of social media in our classrooms while enabling the amazing qualities of social media. According to Lawrence (2022), "We can just as easily point to examples of positive effects of social media in isolated circumstances as much as we can point to its negative, harmful effects." (pg. 84). As with most things, social media has negative and positive qualities.
Social Media communication can be harmful, with a heavy emphasis on the word can. This communication can be beneficial and healthy for individuals as well. It can be used by people to communicate with their online community and feel at home with them. According to Prothero (2024), “social media is a place where people—especially middle and high schoolers—build hobbies, advocate for causes they care about, and connect with friends and family”. It should go without saying that allowing students to be able to experience this form of communication and build these connections does so much for their happiness and health. The key to social media is eliminating the negative and retaining the positive.
References:
Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital Writing: A Guide to writing for Social Media and the web. Broadview Press. February 10, 2026, https://read.amazon.com/?asin=B09Z4VZ9YG&ref_=kwl_kr_iv_rec_1
Prothero, A. (2024, March 27). How teaching kids “digital agency” can make social media a positive place for them. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/how-teaching-kids-digital-agency-can-make-social-media-a-positive-place-for-them/2024/03?s_kwcid=AL%216416%213%21602270476281%21%21%21g%21%21&utm_source=goog&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ew%2Bdynamic%2Brecent&ccid=dynamic%2Bads%2Brecent%2Barticles&ccag=recent%2Barticles%2Bdynamic&cckw=&cccv=dynamic%2Bad&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw7s20BhBFEiwABVIMrRSuDHP8qLUyD4ukosDRK8kVduGzj8eSSGqYqBytnKu2yf7jrOsIyhoC3tcQAvD_BwE
Laura,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post and find your stance on social media in schools and specifically its relation to mental health to be particularly interesting.
I understand your hesitancy in believing that social media is good for its users, but I also compliment your commitment to analyzing it and incorporating it into the instruction you give your students. As Lawrence (2022) states, "we cannot know at this point in time whether social media has had a net positive or negative benefit to humanity" (p. 84). Because of this, it is crucial that we acknowledge its presence, its frequency, and its popularity.
I believe, a lot of the time, our focus is solely on student social media use. However, I believe we must broaden our focus to digital media as a whole. As McCready and Rohn (2025), "parents and educators' understanding of adolescent social media use may be better described as digital media use" (p.539). Our students (and us too) are bombarded with digital media everywhere we turn, every second we see. It is important that we know how to handle the mass information and, more importantly, know how to take a step away for our mental health.
REFERENCES:
Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital writing: A guide to writing for social media and the web. Broadview Press.
McCready, A. M., & Rhon, K. C. (2025). “It's a fine line”: Parent and educator perceptions on the effects of adolescent digital media use on mental health. The Journal of School Health, 95(7), 532-541. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.70028