Date of Award

Spring 2018

Project

Capstone - Open Access

Major

Human Development and Human Services, Minor in Clinical/Counseling Psychology

First Advisor

Katelyn Kurkul

Abstract

This paper explores the possible problems that the usage of social media can have on the physical, social emotional, and cognitive development of adolescents. Adolescence is such a crucial and vulnerable stage in development, where teenagers begin to form their own identity and create meaningful relationships, but social media can have a profound effect on areas of their development. Social media offers new opportunities and challenges for adolescents more today as a generation than ever before. Issues regarding body image, academic achievement, and self-esteem and the connection to social media usage is reported. The issue of cyberbullying and its connection to social media is examined, and the importance of empowering adolescents who have been victimized through bullying is discussed. The paper presents a variety of social networking sites that put adolescents and their information in danger, and it concludes with possible recommendations that parents may utilize in order to be able to talk to their adolescents about social media usage and the possible detriments that can occur.

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