You’re bored so you go to Instagram. Look, the girl that sits next to you in class recorded herself driving to school. Double tap. Your crush posted a selfie. Screenshot and send to your friends’ group chat. You go over to Twitter and see the latest Kardashian scandal. Also, there’s a new Spongebob meme. Retweet.

They’re always on their phones

Anywhere you go nowadays, you see people of all ages with their smartphones clutched to their hands, buzzing and beeping with social media notifications.

When asked how often they use social media, all Miami High students interviewed said the same thing, “Every day,” or, “All the time.” According to the article titled “Teens spend nearly nine hours using media” published by The Washington Post, “Teenagers spend nearly a third of their day using social media.”

Miami High students use it for several reasons. For junior Cynthia Garza, it is to interact with her friends. Junior Roberto Castellón likes to know what goes on in people’s lives so he can laugh at them. Meanwhile, junior Gabriel Hechevarria uses social media to look at memes.

The social media use doesn’t stop while kids are in class. Junior Rachel Valdes said, “I’m always checking my phone to see if I get notifications, even in class so it’s a distraction for me.” Sophomore Ronald Parker said, “I rather be on Instagram than Khan Academy.”

English teacher Ms. Guerra reminisced to when she was a student at Miami High and cellphones were not allowed at any time. “The fact that they allow cellphones in the hallways makes it harder for teachers to enforce no phones inside the classroom,” she said.

The impact: negative or positive?

Many people think social media has made a neutral impact, including our principal Mr. Valdes. “I don’t think it interferes with students’ education,” he said. “It’s a distraction, but it’s part of people’s routine nowadays.”

However, people like senior Kendry Rosales think the impact is negative. “Social media makes it easier for people to misjudge others and it sheds more light on negative things,” he said.

“I think it’s negative because with social media comes certain guidelines you have to follow, and students often ignore them,” said 12^th grade counselor Mr. Cuevas. “Bullying, back when there was no social media, was contained in an environment. Today, cyberbullying is everywhere you go, and that’s a big problem.”

A female sophomore, who wished to remain anonymous, even admitted to cyberbullying people a few years back. “I would create fake accounts and comment mean things on the posts of people I didn’t like,” she said. “I regret it now, but even if the comments were deleted, it doesn’t change the fact that I still did it.”

Teens + iPhones = Anxiety + Loneliness

According to a study titled “Social Media and Teen Anxiety,” conducted by Harvard Graduate School of Education published in December of 2017, social media not only distracts students, it can trigger anxiety. The correlation between anxiety and social media is complicated, but experts have noticed a rise in loneliness, worry, low self-esteem, and sleeplessness among teenagers, and the rise coincides with the release of the first iPhone 10 years ago.

On the positive side, the Harvard researchers found that once teens understand that the images they see are curated snapshots (not real-life indicators), they are less likely to let those posts make them feel insecure about their own lives.