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Social Media

Pressures

Overuse can make teens more
prone to anxiety and depression.

JOYCE WISWELL CONTRIBUTING WRITER

L

ike many of her peers, 17-year-old Julie Abramson is
rarely without her phone.
“I try not to look during class, but sometimes I do,”
admitted the senior at West Bloomfield
High School. “I check it a good amount so
I can keep up with what is going on. I want
to be in loop. It’s nice to feel updated and
not left behind, and you will be if you’re not
checking social media.”
Abramson is hardly alone. According to a
2015 study by the Pew Research Center, 92
percent of teens report going online daily
Julia Abramson
— including 20 percent who say they do so
“almost constantly.” Just 12 percent of teens
ages 13-17 say they have no cell phone of any type.

The pervasiveness of cell phones exasperates many an
adult, who can’t understand why kids just can’t put the darn
phone down — and it’s often just as vexing for teens who,
as Abramson said, have a “love-hate relationship” with their
electronic devices.
“This is their life now; this is their lifestyle,” said Shevy
Zigdon, LSW, family and school-based ser-
vices supervisor at Jewish Family Service
and a former social worker at middle and
high schools. “For any parent to say, ‘Don’t
go on,’ is not realistic.”
Rabbi Yarden Blumstein, teen director
at the Friendship Circle, agrees. “It is not
realistic to not give teens phones. Then they
would be completely isolated socially.”
Shevy Zigdon
But the pressure to stay connected can
take a toll, experts say. According to the
American Psychological Association, daily
overuse of media and technology has a
negative effect on the health of all children,
preteens and teenagers by making them
more prone to anxiety, depression and
other psychological disorders as well as by
making them more susceptible to future
Rabbi Yarden
health problems. Furthermore, the APA
Blumstein
says, studies found that middle school, high
school and college students who checked Facebook at least
once during a 15-minute study period achieved lower grades.
Even benign exchanges can have perils, Blumstein pointed
out, because communication is so instantaneous. “The social
media rules say that you must respond to a text ASAP. So,
you are sending a message simply by not responding,” he said.
“As adults, we can’t begin to understand the undercurrent,
the speed they network at. It’s a strand in a web that is so

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April 5 • 2018

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