Indiscriminate use of Social media by students during the pandemic and its impact
Sreepriya Unnikrishnan
Social media addiction among teens and young adults has increased multifold during the pandemic. It is considered a behavioral disorder in which the individuals are totally captivated or trapped by social media and are unable to free themselves from its clutches despite clear consequences and drawbacks. Teenagers engage in some form of social media or other or if not several, on a daily basis (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter, Discord, Video games).
This has led to increased indiscriminate and blind consumption of media, increased dependence on social media as a way to feel good, losing out on physical social engagements, causing a negative impact on learning, strained relationships with family and friends.
A very important cause for concern is the decline in mental health as a result of increased Social media addiction and also the fact that Social media is an easy platform for online aggression, cyberbullying, impacting the emotional wellbeing of children. All this has led to a decreased focus on academics and a decline in academic performance.
FOMO or ‘Fear Of Missing Out is apparently “that uneasy and sometimes all-consuming feeling that you’re missing out on or not being included in what your peers are doing”, which is another main reason why teenagers are unable to be off social media.
The only way to save our youth from the fangs of social media addiction is not to totally deprive them of their engagement on Social media, but to prevent addiction to it by way of supporting them and guiding them to engage with social media safely, responsibly, and effectively.
We need to remind them to balance their time spent online with chores, homework, spending quality time with family and friends rather than being cooped up in front of the computer or phone screens all the time. It is important to keep a watch on the activities the children are engaged in instead of allowing them to be all by themselves and engage liberally with social media.
While this is indeed an uphill battle, we still can have an influence on the way our children see the effects of social media, helping them make the right decisions.
Learning is a life-long process, there is no end to it. A person who stops learning is equivalent to being dead.
My journey of eight months as an Educator at Ekya, J.P. Nagar has been a sweet and very educational one. There was something new that was learnt every day, that not only impacted me as an educator but as a person on the whole. I have always believed that the kind of people one surrounds themself with, defines the kind of person they are likely to become. And any person that surrounds themselves with the crowd like that of EJPN is likely to undergo a positive transformation. There are new things that we learn, unlearn and discover. At Ekya JP Nagar, every day is a new, exciting day.
In retrospect, my organizational skills have gotten better. At Ekya, the smallest of the details are planned with precision and not simply rendered unimportant. In order to be organized at such a level of precision, it requires one to stay committed to doing the best. With the regular learning audits and observations, I have always been motivated to do my best. I have understood that what I can do is way beyond my imagination. The feedback given to me was valuable and has been instrumental in helping me become a better teacher and provide my students with a wonderful learning experience.
Not all days are good days. I have experienced both highs and lows during my 8 months at Ekya. But the support and encouragement from the leadership team have helped me get over some of the hard days. The teachers in the leadership team set excellent examples for the rest of us to follow, learn from, and model out to the students. They help create a conducive environment for the rest of us to work in. They stay true to the word ‘Ekya’ by creating an inclusive environment for all of us - One never feels left out.
At Ekya, you not only become a better teacher, but also a better person. Some of the practices followed at Ekya, for example - beginning the day with good things, grounding activities, SEE learning has made me a better person. I have become more mindful of my surroundings and the people around me. I am able to navigate through my emotions in a better way and stay positive.
My journey so far has been full of learning and transforming into a better person. Looking forward to many more exciting days, full of learning, at Ekya.
The forest creaks and sways as the harsh winds blow against it. The sturdy pine trees covered with snow stand still, buried deep in the ground. There are no signs of any animals since they have all gone to sleep until spring arises. The birds have migrated away from here too but I mean, who can blame them right? It’s winter and everyone is inside their houses drinking hot chocolate while watching movies. The only one that’s out here smiling right now apart from Joe the caretaker is me.
I’ve been here for approximately 15 minutes now but I’m going to make it quick because my time is running out. I am a snowman and the only time you can see me is in the winter when it snows. You must be wondering how I got stuck in the middle of the woods right? Well, a group of kids came out of nowhere, built me, took some pictures and left. I got bored and thus I am documenting my life, I don’t have much to do anyway. An average snowman lasts for about five hours before melting away into a giant puddle of water, stones and a carrot. We snowmen don’t really do much apart from smile. We don’t eat, we don’t sleep, we don’t do anything really and we are really low maintenance (but then again we are inanimate so it makes sense).
Even though I don’t get to be around for long, I really enjoy the fun people have building us and playing around in the snow. The kids who just built me for instance were having a great time building me. Building snowmen is one of the greatest and most time consuming winter activities. However it is definitely worth all the hard work because at the end you get a snowman like me! One thing all us snowmen want to do in our short lives is feel the Sun’s warmth, like Olaf in Frozen. That obviously won’t work but one can always dream right? There aren’t many adventures we go on since we are stationary but the view is quite nice from here.
Well that’s basically my autobiography. I was going to talk about just my life and that’s it but I ended up talking about a lot more things. My life is pretty short so I had to add a couple more things to make it sound more interesting. In case any of you were wondering about the life of a snowman, here it is. Alright, I’ll be signing off now because it looks like those kids are back with a scarf. Good day humans, see you next winter.
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