Put Down your phone, Make Memories
by Drake Berta
In today's age, social media has played a massive role in shaping our most recent generations. During this time social media has brought a lot of pros to today's society like communication, easy information, increased opportunities, etc. However, for today's newer generation, these pros are overshadowed by the cons that social media brings. Youths' minds are not as disciplined as grown-ups, so when given this technology where you have access to so many things, youth tend to abuse it.
When I was younger, around 5th-6th grade, the first thing I would do when I got home from school was play video games or watch YouTube on my phone. Back then I had so much fun. However I never disciplined myself, so I would just absorb media from when I got home till I slept.
A few years later apps like TikTok and Instagram reels emerged. These apps were especially harmful to youth's minds. These apps show video clips that are pretty short where you can just keep scrolling to find the next video clip. When I downloaded apps like TikTok tok it started a downfall for my mental health. Everytime you scroll on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, etc, you are getting this constant hit of dopamine from seeing video clip after video clip. I noticed these consecutive hits of dopamine, if they go on long enough, made me feel numb to happiness because I was so used to just scrolling on my phone, so much so that things that used to make me feel happy I would not even do anymore because I could just scroll on my phone.
I also noticed it significantly decreased my attention span because I could only focus on these short 30-second clips. For example, in class, it would just become more difficult to formulate sentences and pay attention.
Furthermore, constantly scrolling on my phone made me socialize less throughout my early years in high school. I was too focused on my phone to go out and hang with friends. I was too focused on my phone to talk to my family unless it was at dinner. I was too focused on my phone to take my dog out for a walk. I think you get the point.
While you are young your brain is still developing, and apps like TikTok which decrease your attention span and give you consecutive hits of dopamine are not natural or healthy for developing brains. On top of all of this social media is mainly just a massive waste of time. People are so focused on their phones that life just passes them by and memories that they could have made are traded out for a couple of hours of Instagram reels. Just what I am trying to say is put your phone down, go outside, and make memories.
