A survey suggests that 90% of teenagers use social media.

According to the Child Mind Institute, students deal with issues like becoming more anxious or having lower self-esteem, a poor body image and loneliness when using social media. 

“I think I’ve seen too many kids socially become a mess because they can’t handle it, aren’t mature enough, and then it kind of snowballs,” English teacher Libby Clem said.

From a disciplinary standpoint, it can take normal high school issues such as peer drama and bullying longer to resolve. 

“When there is an incident, it gets blasted out on social media,” SRO Travis Nolte said. “Someone records it or talks about it. Then, now, everyone can see and hear about it, and they weren’t even there, so it kind of just impacts how long the resolution takes. It just stirs the drama up, and everything lasts longer”

DataReportal states that the average person spends two and a half hours on social media a day

“Social media gives people a cyber wall to hide behind, and they can be extremely nasty and say mean things for no apparent reason,” Chris Pearcy said. “But, it’s not all bad. It’s never been easier to get information, although you do have to train yourself to find the good information. It gives more people a chance to get their information out there and become successful.”

According to LinkedIn, social media can enhance creative activities, make it easy to get instant access to reliable information and the internet can build teamwork.

“You just have to be smart about anything that you use, and social media is no expectation,” Pearcy said. “There are very good things about it, but you also have to be smart.”