Dear Future President,

My name is Keaten, and I am 15 years old. Though I have lived alongside technology for most of my life, there are many things on the internet that I do not approve of, one of the most prominent of which is social media. Social media is a great harm to the social world, even more than it strengthens it. Not only does it promote horrible things such as cyberbullying, but it lowers grades and threatens security

Cyberbullying is a very evident problem that has been around as long as the internet has. One of the main reasons why it is worse than regular bullying is because the attacker is usually never known. According to procon.org, more than 70% of media users are victims of cyberbullying, making them twice as likely to commit suicide. About 33% of social media users are cyber bullies, people who cause these horrible deaths. There doesn’t even have to be a cyberbully to promote this, because people whom have unpopular pages can feel socially isolated and be even more likely to commit suicide than the latter.

Next, heavy social media users tend to have low grades. Social media, when used heavily, can distract students from classwork and homework. The average GPA of a social media user is 3.06. The average for a non user is 3.82. To back up this evidence even further, a few studies have looked into this very topic, showing us that heavily using social media for a month can lower your grades by an entire letter.

Finally, social media promotes security attacks from other suspicious users. This is probably the worst aspect of social media, due to the fact that it is an open site for anyone to join. Not only can suspicious people join these groups, but unsuspecting people can put themselves at risk by joining. Nothing is stopping media posts from containing viruses or other malware websites. In addition, inappropriate posts can be made anytime, and even if they are removed, it doesn’t change the initial scar of the first few people who saw the post . In addition, many people share valuable information on the media that is used for security checks for password resets. This is something people usually don’t think about, because it seems normal for popular posters to send pictures of their cat Mittens or post a video of their best friend Jerry, but the truth is that information can be used against you, and fast.

However, if used correctly, social media can be a great learning tool. People can use social media to scour educational conversations to help them with homework, or to get in touch with long-lost friends. People who are well educated in the risks of social media don’t have to worry about their safety online, and can even warn people about malicious posts or viruses. Finally, private accounts on social media restrict an account to only friends, leaving out the problem of cyberbullying.

In many ways, social media can be destructive to society, but it can also be helpful. However, the destruction has been outweighing the benefits, and media is bringing our society into a dark time. If we can properly educate people about online safety or find a way to further restrict social media accounts, we can finally make the Internet a safer place.

-Thank You