One day I was sitting in my room and I was just watching TikTok. And I kind of just had an anxiety attack. Like, I just started coming to this realization that, 'I'm just sitting in my room watching TikTok.' And I was kind of sad about it. I was kind of like, 'I could be doing so much more than just watching TikTok.' Like, I was wasting my time.
My name is Reagan Neal. I'm 18 years old and I'm a senior at Central High School. I live with my mom, Lisa, and my brother Austin. I like working out and making people laugh. No matter where I am, I always try to make people happy. I'm doing my story on how social media negatively affects teenagers. Growing up, I got to see the birth of social media. On the other hand, I've missed some older practices of communication, like knowing how to mail a letter. When my mom and dad were growing up, they'll tell me how they didn't have cell phones and they had to use a home line or payphone if they were out. They made life seem more simple than it is now. Like having fun back then was going outside and hanging with your friends, which kids still do. But now you have kids who just watch TikTok for hours.
When COVID hit, everything was different. We did everything online. School was online, but people would be in the Zoom calls and some people wouldn't be paying attention; they'd be playing video games or watching YouTube. And so I wanted to do a story on that realization. I came to my room when I was watching. TikTok is like, people are so depressed right now. And I have a friend who's going through some stuff. I have multiple friends who are going through some stuff. They don't talk social media stuff like that is has made people's feelings go numb.
I was at a football game and there were these girls who were finding players on the football field and looking them up on Instagram to see like who they were. And I'm just thinking like, 'That doesn't matter. Instead of living in the moment and watching the game and talking to friends, you're glued to your phone and looking at Instagram. You're not going to be able to have that memory of hanging out with your friends.' And if I'm laying on my deathbed and all my memories are me looking at TikTok and Instagram and Twitter, then that's a pretty depressing life.
Social media has changed the way kids process things and the way they act before social media. If you liked a girl and wanted to go on a date with the girl, you go up and ask them. Nowadays, with cell phones, kids have become less confident with actually talking to people so they resort to social media. Like I said earlier, you have kids nowadays who are afraid to talk to other people. A good example of this is TikTok. You have these kids making these videos about doing something they enjoy, like playing the drums. Some get comments. 'This is lame, lol!'
Now the kid will forever be scared of expressing his passion for playing the drums. The amount of deaths that have occurred because of cyberbullying is ridiculous. Last year, a student at Centerville took his own life. A recent survey done by Best Radio.com show that the average person spends 6 hours and 55 minutes on their phone, which is 43% of someone's waking hours. Teenagers who spend more than 3 hours a day on their phones tend to score lower on writing and speaking tests. They're also more susceptible for anxiety, depression, ADHD, increased stress and addiction.
I'm trying to get out to other students and other people my age and tell them that they're not alone. I'm trying to get them out of that deep abyss of being just, like, surrounded and isolated in social media. Are you a good friend? Are you good teammate? Are you a good father? Are you a good son? No one cares how many followers you have. What are you doing in your life that's making you a good person? That's why I want other teens to learn from my story.
Offline, written and produced by Reagan Neal a senior at Centerville High School. Special thanks to his teacher, Tricia Rapoch.