Why Are Students Addicted to Social Media?

Why+Are+Students+Addicted+to+Social+Media%3F

Abdourahaman Balde

In Liberty high school there are students who are addicted to social media. They are always on their phones. Students are active on social media all during the day. Social networking addiction refers to mental concern over the use of social networks and allocation of time to these networks in such a way that it affects other social activities of individuals such as occupational and professional activities, interpersonal relationships and health leading to disruption of their life.

Some students are using 10 apps at the same time, their phone pings every second with notifications. Some of the apps they are using are:  Snap chat, Instagram, Twitter, Whatsapp, Facebook, Bumble, BLK, Youtube, Tinder, Badoo.

The first reason why students are addicted to using their phone is that students feel anxiety if they are forced to give up their phones for a short time. A hit of the brain releases feel- good chemicals into your body, which reinforces the behavior. Eventually, this pattern creates an addiction and makes it difficult for students to live without feeding the habit.

An effect of  social media addiction causes unhappiness and a general dissatisfaction with life in users also increases the risk of developing mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.

Gwenael, a student at Liberty High School, told me that if he didn’t use his phone in class, he could have a headache, stress and a lot of madness, and feel sad. If the teacher takes his phone away in class, he is going to be mad because he stops what he was doing like concentrating on the text message with his friends or someone else like a new friend on social media.

He can’t sit down and not use his phone at all times. He is always active on his phone day and night. His  phone is on 24 hours.

 

Another reason students are addicted to their phones is that they want to have some fun with their friends, sometimes to play with people they don’t know or sometimes to make a new friend.  A student named Kadime Ndiaye said, “Some of us don’t have time to study or do homework because of my phone. I was the one who Ms. Taiae took the phone from all the time in class.” He normally plays video games with his friends online while in class. He cannot use his phone after school because he goes to work. The good thing is he is doing well in classes but the problem is he uses his phone a lot during class time.

 

Social media addiction has many serious consequences.  One is that many students don’t focus in class when they are always using their phone.  They don’t care if they understand or not. What else are the problems?

Mouhammadane says, “If I try to focus in class, I can’t. My head always goes to my phone. I need to check it every 10 to 20 seconds.”  His grade in history class is not good and he has a lot of homework to give to Mister Djamiladinnov.

Mor Ndiaye, a student of liberty high school said, “I am a good student and I study well in class. But I am always on my phone and that disturbs me everytime and that doesn’t help me to do my homework.”