“Nobody is perfect”. “You’re beautiful the way you are”. These are things we have all heard but never acknowledge. I claim that social media has a huge impact on how kids perceive themselves, and it is important to know the effects of that and how to stop it. It starts with one picture, one video, one story. Kids get influenced by everything. Even though it may be fake. Photoshop and plastic surgery have taken over our lives and the internet is full of lies. There are so many horrible things that kids do just to achieve the ‘ideal body’. Do we really want our kids to live in such a world that discourages insecurities but also supplies them?
To start with, the internet is a wide, diverse place. There are so many good things that happen because of the inter-webs. But there are equally as many bad things that happen because of it. Imagine that you are a 13 year old girl, and your social media life is extremely diverse. Your entire life exists on Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, to mention a few. Likes and retweets matter more to you than your own family. Suddenly, you discover a really pretty girl with the perfect body. You aim to be like her. After a bit of exercise and healthy eating, you see no results. You decide enough is enough. The next time you have a meal, you put your dishes away nervously and your hands quiver. After going straight to the sink, you vomit out all the food you have just eaten. ‘It’ll make you thin’ ‘You can look like her’ your mind tells you. Many people go through that. According to eatingdisorderhope.com, 2.7% of teens aged 13-18 will develop a serious clinical eating disorder due to insecurities from social media, and 50% of teenage girls use unhealthy weight control behaviours like skipping meals, vomiting, smoking, and using chemicals to control their body shape and make it ‘perfect’. 46% of 9-11 year olds are on diets due to the unrealistic standards set by social media these days. Would you want your child or your best friend or your sister or brother or even yourself to go through something so unhealthy for something so useless?
Secondly, even though social media brings people together, it can tear them apart too. Some people go through depressive episodes, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts. Being thin is regarded as the cult of happiness these days. Obese or even slightly bulkier people are ridiculed and as a result of that many people get extremely mentally or physically ill. Some mental conditions that people unfortunately develop due to not being ‘perfect’ are: depression (something very common even in teens), poor self esteem, panic attacks, panic disorder, and anxiety. It is devastating to see a quirky and carefree friend turn insanely obsessed with her body. It is important to identify the symptoms of this before it gets too late. If you know someone who has suddenly become into a nutshell, here are some symptoms that it may be more serious than just a bad day.
- Loss of interest in everyday activities
- Sudden appetite/weight changes
- Snappy attitudes
- Loss of energy
- Self loathing/Self hate/Self Doubt
Obviously all of these things could mean something else entirely but checking on that person and monitoring their behaviour is important. Another good way is to monitor their page on social media. Have they been posting weird things or have they been ranting on and on about how some person is prettier than them? Watch out before it gets serious.
Lastly, how can you stop this? Most people don’t even know how to prevent it, let alone stop it. But it’s definitely worth a try. You never know, you could save a life. Well, considering at what point you are in your life, there are many ways you can help. If you are a teen yourself, I suggest taking a minute away from everything. Reconnect yourself with reality (not reality shows) and the real world outside of that screen. Imagine if everyone looked perfect. Eventually the standards would change. Trends don’t define you. You define yourself. Remind yourself that even though it’s perfectly fine to think someone is pretty or cute, there are so many people that think you are too. If you are a parent, I suggest monitoring your child’s use of media. Don’t snoop on them or read their messages etc, but just monitor their behaviour around their screens. Also, emphasize the rights and wrong on social media. Show them what is good and what is bad. And here’s a note for everyone: humans like to set standards. It’s natural. But in an ever-evolving world, let’s step away from fake identities and stay close to our real ones.
All in all, I think that even though the causes for these harsh effects may sound weird or unreasonable, it’s now part of our lives. Social media and the internet; it’s taking over. Simplicity and easy lives have turned into a complex track of stress and anxiety playing over and over. Do we really want to live in a world with people thinking about killing themselves just because they don’t look like a carbon copy of a person they haven’t even met?
Vedika Sanga
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