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Blog # 2 – Project Plan – “How does continuous engagement with social media platforms, without regular breaks, influence the mental health and academic performance of high school students?”

My Inquiry question this semester is “How does continuous engagement with social media platforms, without regular breaks, influence the mental health and academic performance of high school students?” I look forward to discovering how social media impacts the mental health and academic performance of students.

Research Step 1: Among high school students, what mental health issues are most commonly associated with excessive social media use?

This sub-question may seem quite obvious to some people, but it is a very important question to ask when researching about this specific Inquiry project. One simple mental health issue caused by frequent social media use is Anxiety. Continuous social media use can lead to an increase of social anxiety, and the fear of missing out (FOMO) which may be caused from viewing other people’s social outings, not being included. Depression is another component that correlates to excessive social media use. Symptoms of depression may increase when one scrolls through social media for long periods of time. This can be due to cyberbullying or unrealistic negative comparisons. Attention Issues may also spark up when scrolling through social media frequently. The constant notifications and fast-paced nature of social media can contribute to decreased attention spans and lack of focus. Watching fifteen second videos one may find on various platforms can reduce the attention span and disturb the focus of a student significantly.

Research Step 2: In what ways does social media use correlate with academic performance metrics like grades, attendance, and focus?

Social media can correlate with academic performance measures in a variety of different ways. It can correlate with grades as continuous social media use connects with lower academic performance. Many students spend their spare time scrolling on different social media platforms, taking away time that could be used in a better manner such as completing homework or studying. This procrastination leads to lower grades as many students would rather scroll tirelessly instead of complete their homework as it takes much less effort. Attendance is another factor that may overlap with frequent social media use. Quite a few students may experience disrupted sleep schedules due to late night usage. Consuming all of this blue-light so late at night disrupts the sleep pattern of a student which is very harmful in terms of academic performance as studies show the ideal amount of sleep for a student is between 8-10 hours. Teachers may find that a great deal of their students are late for Block 1 classes as many students slept in, having an unstable sleep schedule. I’ve already covered the focus component, but the constant notifications and fast-paced videos can really deteriorate a student’s attention span.

Research Step 3: How does social media influence high school students’ social interactions and relationships, and how does that impact their overall well-being?

This question can go two ways; positive and negative. One positive about social media is that it can connect students with other peers, creating friendships and providing people a sense of community when they feel alone. It can also create many support networks in which students can learn more about a topic they might not understand by their teacher during a lesson. On the flip side, social media can reduce social interactions as more and more people create a following online, and tend to develop an increased amount of social anxiety. Numerous platforms can also be very distracting, interfering with real life interactions. This can reduce face-to-face communication skills and opportunities for deeper connections. Overall, this can impact a student’s well being mentally as one can deal with anxiety, low self esteem, or depression. Social media may also be a coping mechanism for some students, finding a way to avoid their real life problems and emotions.

These three sub-topic questions provide me with more information for my overall Inquiry question as they allow me to dive deeper into this complicated topic.

How will this Inquiry question have implications to other individuals?

Everybody has their own opinion about certain things, and during this project I would encourage others to speak up about what they think about social media affecting the mental health and academic performance of high school students. Personally, I believe that social media contains more negative aspects to the world than positive, but others may disagree which is totally okay. Everybody perceives information differently, so the way I display my project may be in a way that another person disagrees with. During this project, I will try to look at certain aspects in different perspectives, and encourage other opinions as it will provide more insight into my project.

Thank you very much for reading my blog post, I hope you obtained some new information!

— Vanessa Vukovic

Sources:

Sun, L. (2023, October 31). Social media usage and students’ social anxiety, loneliness and well-being: Does Digital Mindfulness-based intervention effectively work? – BMC psychology. BioMed Central. https://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40359-023-01398-7

Katella, K. (2024, June 17). How social media affects your teen’s mental health: A parent’s guide. Yale Medicine. https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/social-media-teen-mental-health-a-parents-guide

Gupta, S. (2024, February 20). Social Media Harms Teens’ mental health, mounting evidence shows. what now? Science News. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/social-media-teens-mental-health

The University of Queensland. (n.d.). How does social media affect teenagers?. Study. https://study.uq.edu.au/stories/how-social-media-affects-teenagers

Office of the Surgeon General (OSG). (1970, January 1). Social media has both positive and negative impacts on children and adolescents. Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory [Internet]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK594763/

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6 Comments

  1. The information you have presented within the research steps are very interesting as I did not know how deeply social media can affect mental health. I also did not realize that social media can also be beneficial as I have always assumed social media to be negative to mental health. One question I have is how would you define social media? Is YouTube social media? and is every site or app where you can share information social media?

  2. Hello Vanessa,

    What a cool inquiry, delving further into what it means to exist in the age of social media as a teenager, and how that affects one’s ability to harness the power of attention in everyday academics. I love that you mentioned the toll that social media has the potential to take on mental health, specifically depressive disorders and anxiety. I would thoroughly enjoy seeing how you would cut down your time spent on social media as a means of helping like-minded teenagers do the same. Perhaps you should make a plan on how much time you should spend on social media per day to preserve the human brain. Love the work you’ve put into this all-encompassing topic, and I cannot wait to see how you go on with your findings!
    Below I have listed a few helpful resources:
    https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/social-media-teen-mental-health-a-parents-guide
    https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/social-media-and-mental-health-in-children-and-teens
    https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/youth-mental-health/social-media/index.html
    -AVA

  3. Hello Vanessa,
    Your inquiry question was so interesting and I loved how you broke down each step and clearly expressed the impact of social media on a teen’s life. Your balanced focus, highlighting both the negatives and positives of social media brings a great perspective. Additionally, I thought your connection to how a teen’s sleep cycle impacts their mental health was very insightful. I also enjoyed how well you formatted your paragraphs and expressed your views in great detail.

    Here are some links you might find useful!

    https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-023-04859-w
    https://www.cmaj.ca/content/192/6/e136
    https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2022012/article/00002-eng.htm

  4. Hello Vanessa,
    Your blog topic is relatable to me since I believe that social media did have a huge impact on my academic performance. When I discover negative news on social media or I am too invested in something, it causes a big distraction from my studies. My suggestion is to mention how we can control ourselves so there is enough balance between going on social media and staying on top of our studies. For example, I make sure to not check through social media (stories, posts) on school days, only unless I am replying to messages. And then I allow myself to look through social media with no limit on weekends. This way, I am not distracted during school and after. With this method, I can focus more on my academics. Here are some resources that can help: https://www.rica.nsw.edu.au/resources/do-you-control-your-social-media/
    https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/apa-blogs/tips-to-take-control-of-your-social-media-use
    Kiara

  5. Hi Vanessa!

    Things are looking great with your blog post! I love how you touched on the heavy toll that social media can have on FOMO. In the future, I would love to read some more about how to avoid the harm that social media can cause, maybe consider explaining a few ways to reduce screen time, as it’s become an addiction for many people. I really like how you are planning to see your question from different perspectives. Here’s a website I hope you find helpful: https://www.inc.com/jonathan-steiman/i-reduced-my-screen-time-by-50-percent-it-wasnt-that-hard-heres-how-i-did-it.html

  6. Hi Vanessa,
    I enjoyed reading your blog post. This topic is often brought up, but I think you did a very good job explaining how highschooler’s mental health and academic performance is influenced by social media platforms. I am looking forward to reading more in the future, maybe you can cover, the academic effects of multi-tasking, cyberbullying and the documented association between frequent social media use and higher suicide risk among teens.
    Here is a site you might find helpful:
    https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/su/su7304a3.htm

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