Social media is something that most high school students use or are aware of. It’s a way to keep up with people and become aware of recent events happening within their community, but for some people, it’s more than that. It’s an addiction they need to feed everyday.

Teachers always tell students not to use their phones or access social media in class but they still do. Classmates can be see on their phone all the time during class, even while the teacher is instructing. Everyone is guilty of it, including me. At some point we go to check our phones to make sure we haven’t missed any new posts, thinking a quick break is harmless. Although in reality, it is more harmful than many think.

Snapchat and Instagram are the biggest offenders for me. As a 6th grader, seeing all my friends and peers on Instagram made me want to get in on the fun.

The first year I spent about an hour a day checking Instagram while occasionally posting as well, but in 8th grade, it started to consume my life. Snapchat started getting more and more popular among teens, and almost everyone, including myself started using it.

The format of Snapchat makes the user want to use it everyday to keep up with their streaks and update their stories. The reason that Snapchat is so time consuming is because once you start snapping someone it usually doesn’t stop until one of you has to go to somewhere. My snapping could last hours and consist of just stupid faces that my friend and I send to each other.

However, the time kids spend snapping each other and checking other’s stories takes away from the time they should spend finishing schoolwork and studying for tests. Even if they spend time studying, they are constantly distracted by the snaps they are getting and when notifications are constantly popping up, virtually no student can ignore it for long.

36.4% of teenagers surveyed said that social media regularly interferes with their school work. That number might not seem that alarming, but that only accounts for the students that admitted social media affects them. Many people won’t admit they are obsessed with keeping up with their social media and how that affects how they do in school.

I have since deleted my social media accounts so I can focus more on my homework and getting ahead in school. The bottom line is that many teens are spending too much of their time using social media and should be more focused in and out of school. Being self aware that social media is taking up too much of your time and understanding it’s time to cut back is a wake up call many students need to hear.