THE ECHO

by Holly Edwards

Social media, stress and mental health. According to the Pew Research Center, teens and their parents believe it is harder to be a teenager today than it was 20 years ago. Of the 44% of U.S. teens who say being a teenager is harder now, 39% mention technology as a reason.

Smartphones and social media allow for effective communication and creativity, but they also bring new challenges. According to the Pew survey, 25% of teens who believe adolescence is more difficult today say social media has a negative effect on individuals. It enables bullying, promotes unrealistic beauty standards and creates pressure to always be available.

“I don’t use social media very much because I’ve seen the way it distracts people,” senior Kiera Brooks said. “My boyfriend is always on it and it drives me crazy that we can’t hangout without a phone involved.”

It’s not only social media that teens say makes it harder; 31% of these teenagers say they feel more pressure and higher expectations. Many point to grade pressure, extracurricular activities, maintaining a social life and working part-time. Teens often feel that with so much to do, there is little room for failure. The pressure teens experience today contributes to the belief that growing up now is more challenging than it was two decades ago.

“My parents are a lot older than me and the way they talk about how they grew up makes it seem so much easier to be a kid back then,” junior Griffin Larson said. “I feel way more pressured to be better.”

Beyond academic pressure, many teens say that societal shifts contribute to the difficulty. According to Pew, 15% of teens believe the world itself has changed for the worse. They note that rising violence, inflation, politics, and climate change make the future harder. Many teens feel anxious about their lives after high school.

“Seeing things about the economy doesn’t exactly give me hope. I just saw an ad from Zillow the other day about buying homes with friends as the best financial choice,” senior Paige Conner said.

It is not only teens that agree with this statistic, 15% of parents also believe that the world is rougher today than it was two decades ago. Many parents believe that its harder to instill good values and behavior in their kids due to behaviors seen in schools and public places.

“My dad has cared a lot about how social media and the changes to the world have affected me,” junior Zach Sobek said. “He talks to me all the time and is always worried about things happening in the world.”