As you walk around the park, you begin to observe the people around you. You notice the park’s playground is quiet and empty. On prior visits the park is loud, not this time, instead young kids are sitting down on the benches with their eyes glued to their phone, scrolling non-stop through social media apps that they shouldn’t use. This young generation is growing up too fast.

Social media has had the biggest impact on the Generation Z physically and emotionally due to its high and unachievable standards.

Teens tend to go to social media to escape reality, but instead they are met with new insecurities each time they go through their feed.

Gen-Z has been pressured to grow up faster due to social media. Young kids have chosen to skip the best part of their lives, childhood. Childhood is the time where kids don’t worry about looks, how they act. These young kids are missing out on the most memorable moments of their life just to fit into today’s society.

The survey published by the non profit research organization, Common Sense Media, said “Overall screen use among teens and tweens increased by 17 percent from 2019 to 2021 — growing more rapidly than in the four years prior.” More young kids are entering the toxic social media world.

As more teens begin to join social media, they are introduced to topics they shouldn’t be familiar with at their age. Some teens begin to see these things more often on social media and see it as something cool they can do.

Teens have been following social media trends to fit in, social media has normalized teens engaging in “adult” activities such as dating, drinking alcohol and engaging in sexual relationships at a young age.

Social media’s normalization of these things has made many teens have to go through big changes, physically and mentally.

“Ever since I began to use social media I felt like I had to act a certain way, social media would make me feel like it was wrong to act like my age, I guess you can say ever since that I tried to act older than I was because I didn’t want to get judged by others,” an anonymous student said.

Freshman Jackelyn Hernandez is someone who began using social media from a young age and believes that she started acting older than her age because of social media.

“Social media has really forced me to change, I couldn’t act like myself because I was afraid to get judged. I had to dress a certain type of a way, act a certain type of way. Suddenly it was wrong for me to act my age because it was considered cringe somehow?” she said.

Social media went from being a safe place for young teens to be able to act like themselves to being the main reason why teens are scared to act like themselves.

Freshman Dylan Gomez is someone who believes social media had a big impact on his mental health while growing up.

“Yes I felt like social media had an effect on me because I became very insecure, I became a very self conscious person on the way I acted around people because I felt like I was being judged for acting my age even though it was a normal thing. Social media made me grow up fast. Overall coming back to your question, yes social media had an impact on the way I grew up,” he said.

Social media has become a big part of Gen-z’s lives, social media, the place that was a safe place for teens has now become teens’ biggest nightmare.