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Josh Holland
Miss. Burke
English 11
16 April 2018
Negative Effects of Technology on Teens

Technology can be an amazing tool, however, it can also have a negative impact on

teenagers. Technology can be, anything from video games, to phones, to television. Technology

can lead to many negative effects on teens. For example, teens feeling less of themselves, to

being depressed and feeling not worthy of other people. It is the amount of technology used that

is the issue. Kids play or use technology every day on an average for at least a few hours. This

lead to, teenagers wasting valuable time during the day. Regulating technology is the key to

preventing teens, to feel less themselves. Teenagers need to be active, playing sports, or hanging

out with their friends, interacting in the community, being social with their families, and using

their social skills on a day to day basis. Encouraging teenagers to use their social skills, and not

just contacting their friends through a text message or a snapchat is one of the ways we can help

teenagers become better, and feel better about themselves.

Technology affects teenager’s self-esteem negatively. The use of technology is directly

related to drug and alcohol use. It is perceived as “cool” online, therefor causing teens to be more

willing to do it. Teens are judged online, for how they look, how big they are, or how small they

are. Technology is as well as a direct correlation, to “teens being obese. 33% of teens are obese”

(Roberts). Instagram and other social media sites, that involve posting or showing off something

you have done, leads to teens feeling depressed about themselves. One of the highest causes of

depression is the use of video games in an excess amount (Roberts). Using social media causes
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teenagers to always be chasing the “perfection” for themselves on social media. This causes

teenagers to use their self-identity, due to trying to fit in with everyone else and basically become

a mold of the next person to the next person on social media (Raney). In conclusion, the use of

technology is not all bad, it is how it is used.

The amount of technology use, of teens and people use is extremely high. One-Third of

kinds under the age of two, use some sort of technology (Deloatch). According to, Edumedic,

95% of teens between the age 12-17 use technology (Deloatch). Having a picture liked on social

media becomes an addicting habit, people get. According to CNN, “a test was run, on teens and,

it triggers your brain and causes people to want more” (East). That addictive feeling is what

causes people to over use technology. Social media causes people to feel the need to constantly

document their lives, for the sake of showing off to other people, leading to teens feeling

depressed or anxiety. Due to teens feeling they are not as cool as other teens, because they may

not have enough, money, or the nicest clothes, or the nicest pictures to post. Stated by, National

Association of Independent Schools, “Eighth graders who use social media, have 27% more of a

chance of becoming depressed (Orem). Teenagers, need to limit the use of technology in order to

stop themselves from feeling depressed, or lowering their self-esteem.

Technology affects teens in an extremely negative way constantly, every time they use it

in some sort of way. The use of technology, especially cellphones constantly puts privacy at risk.

The benefits to not using technology are teens are better for being able to pick up on emotions.

According to, Edumedic,”kids who use technology, are not as good as kids who do not use

technology on picking up emotions” (Deloatch). Negative effects are depression, anxiety, poor

body image, and loneliness. It causes teens to not feel accepted amongst each other. As well, for

teens and for adults, it effects sleep patterns for all ages of people, it causes then to not fall asleep
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at a normal hour, due to your body not being able to fall asleep immediately after using an

electronic device. This then leads to people being less efficient, and productive in life. People are

not getting enough sleep to feel good on a daily basis. Lacking sleep, and not having a regular

sleep pattern is extremely hurtful to your body’s immune system, as well as your brain power,

not keeping a constant sleep schedule is an extremely hurtful thing to do.

Certain kind of technology affects people different ways. For example, television affects

teenagers differently than social media may, or snapchat does. Social media is by far the most

hurtful piece of technology. Because, it causes teens to feel negative, opposed to how T.V. does

not make teens feel as bad about themselves. The phone use in today’s day is, too high, teens are

spending the majority of their time on their phones, instead of doing work, or being outside. For

example, “The average teen spends around 21 hours in front of a television a week” (Dimitri).

That is 21 hours a week a teen could be doing work, or being active in their local community, or

helping their parents, or being more involved in school. Watching television is not bad, it is the

over use of it is what the issue is. That goes for really all technology, most of it is not bad at all

it, is the amount of it that teenagers and even adults are using it on a weekly basis, and even a

daily basis. Over the past 50 years technology has been introduced into classrooms, it has

benefited many as well as negatively affected many (Nutall). Another key topic, on how teens

are affected by technology is the distraction it causes in the classroom. Teenagers are able to

access websites and games during school, causing them to be more focused on that then, paying

attention to the teacher, and the material they need to learn to be better off for the future.

In conclusion, teens need to limit the use of technology. This would allow teens to feel

better about themselves, as well as make them better socially. Cell phones should be limited,

how much teens and all people use them. Technology is a critical part in today’s society and is
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not something we should get rid of, however everything has to come in moderation. The same

goes for any sort of technological use for teenagers. The video game use as well needs to be

limited, this would ensure teenagers are socially active and are not in a room all the time. Over

the years, technology has advanced into one of the biggest industries in the world, and is sure not

going away any time soon, nor should it go away. It has created endless amounts of jobs, created

amazing people who have changed the world, and allowed for people to flourish in the world

today. If we were to take technology away that would greatly impact lives all across the world.

Thousands of jobs would be lost, families would lose income, and people would lose their ability

to do what they do on a daily basis, which is not where we want to go. However, limiting the use

of technology would allow for teenagers to flourish even more, as stated earlier, teens who use

less technology typically have a greater imagination then teens who do use technology. In the

end, technology is amazing, we just need to think about how much of it we use, and how much

adults use, and teenagers use it.

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Works Cited

Deloatch, Pamela. “The Four Negative Sides of Technology.” Edudemic,

`````www.edudemic.com/the-4-negative-side-effects-of-technology/.
Dimitri. “Teenagers and Technology: Negative Effects.” Scik IT S, scikits-image.org/teenagers-
and-technology-negative-effects/.
East, Susie. “How Does Social Media Affect Your Brain.” CNN, Cable News Network, 1 Aug.
2016, www.cnn.com/2016/07/12/health/social-media-brain/index.html.
Holmes, Lindsay. “The Dangerous Ways Too Much Tech Can Mess With Teens' Health.” The
Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 13 Nov. 2015,
www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/teensmartphonedangerous_us_56391ee7e4b0307f2cab06
1e.
Raney, Hayley. “Social Media Affects Teens' Self-Esteem, Personal Identity.” The Register,
www.omahacentralregister.com/1366/opinions/social-media-affects-teens-self-esteem-
personal-identity/
Roberts, Holly L. “The Negative Effects Electronics Have on Teens.” LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf
Group, 3 Oct. 2017, www.livestrong.com/article/536846-the-negative-effects-electronics-
have-on-teens/
Orem, Donna. “How Does Technology Affect Teen Health and Well-Being?” NAIS – Preparing
Students for Life?, www.nais.org/learn/independent-ideas/september-2017/how-does-
technology-affect-teen-health-and-well-being/