More Than Memes Social Media to Cope with Mental Health

hello

my name is jadell brown and 11th grader

at brooklyn lab charter school and i

will be talking about the unique

approaches teenagers use to cope with

mental health

generation z is known for being creative

and socially progressive

generation z is also known for doing

really stupid things

like biting tide pods for fun or coming

up with weird phrases like

it’s okay boomer or this is not it

but we are also outspoken knowledgeable

and we know when to speak out for

injustice

it is also well known that gen z has

significantly

higher rates of depression and mental

illness

the music art and dance on social media

are effective ways teenagers use to cope

with their mental health struggles

now when thinking about beauty everyone

has their own preferences

and types of what they consider to be

beautiful but to what extent

can we criticize others for not fitting

those standards

society today creates an illusion that

sets standards on what a person should

look like

to be considered beautiful or how they

should act and certain expectations they

should live up to

and the amount of education they need to

make something of themselves

adults also play a part in teenage

mental health because a lot of parents

stress

teens out and often criticize them

whether they mean to or not

no matter how much of a strong facade we

put on teenagers are still kids and

words still reach deep

my generation feels these pressures

acutely and they worsen or can even

cause mental health problems in teens

social pressure can impact how a person

feels about themselves and can make them

question their worth

judgment can also lead to social anxiety

seeing as the fear of being stared at or

being criticized can mess up someone’s

confidence and mindset

everyone is different and if we can’t

see that there’s definitely something

wrong with the way we perceive things

teenagers face a lot of pressure from

beauty standards and often listen to

music to ease their mind

or find a path to loving themselves one

way my generation has learned to cope

with this social pressure is with music

and specifically by listening to the

affirming and loving music of bts

the korean pop group known

internationally bts is one of those

musical coping mechanisms

as people often listen to their music to

find love and gain

motivation to keep going when faced with

hardships

one of bts albums love yourself answer

talks a lot about accepting yourself and

all your flaws and finding a way through

that feeling of never-ending darkness

all of their albums send listeners a

deeper message that normally focus on

finding one’s true self

or facing their insecurities and

anxieties head-on

bts doesn’t just make music they create

songs that connect to their fans and

tell a story

despite the language barrier bts and

their fans have a really strong

connection

as quoted from their amazing leader kim

mongoon no one is born ugly were just

born in a judgmental society

second teenagers are stressed from the

tons of schoolwork being given

in online school i’ve known i’ve been

there

due to the safety measures that have

been implemented students had to switch

to online school and school itself was

already hard before

so imagine remote learning now students

have to sit

hours and hours on zoom calls every day

which creates a depressing mood because

no one wants to sit at home

learning remote learning can make people

lose the motivation

and energy to keep up and over time the

stress will get to them

and school will be nothing but a

depressing force of habit

teens have made remarks saying how

school doesn’t even feel like learning

anymore

it’s just doing assignments and getting

a grade this kind of environment can

create a negative mindset of mental

health

especially for teenagers as now is the

time we’re now trying to find ourselves

and developing as a person

often teenagers use tick-tock as a way

to distract themselves from schoolwork

social media has good aspects that allow

teenagers to connect with each other

and help tick-tock is a really good way

for teenagers to share creative ideas

like artwork

which can ease the mind art has been

known to help with anxiety it’s a great

way to relieve emotions and express

feelings and social media is a crucial

outlet that lets teens share their

artwork with each other

therapy can come in many different forms

as everyone has different way of dealing

with mental illness

and one of those is art which is a very

effective way

throughout tick tock i have seen many

teenagers expressing themselves through

art

as a way to express their opinions and

belief i once saw a girl draw on her

wall

i’m not that creative but it did look

nice

2020 has been a year full of tragedy

kofi 19 being one of those major issues

when lockdown first started many teams

were excited to get away from school

myself included but as time went on it

started to get really boring

and people started facing more struggles

with anxiety and depression

as everyone was stuck home doing nothing

half the time

it gave people more time to think about

themselves and sometimes those thoughts

weren’t always positive

being locked inside caused a lot of

stress and emotional exhaustion

which impacted mental health in order to

cope with these struggles

teenagers often use dance as a way to

ease anxiety and improve their mood

dance was used to create a confidence

booster and can allow many people to

express themselves

it can build self-esteem and

communication skills

many teens sometimes record their dance

journey from when they first started to

present

to show their improvement and those

results improved emotionally and

physically

now to all you teens out there i know

you at least been hit once with the

you’re just a kid what would you know

but when it’s time to take care of a

sibling or do a heavy task

that’s when parents start saying you’re

not a baby anymore act your age

it’s time to grow up talk about

contradictions

they only want us to act our age when

it’s in their best interest

but as soon as we voice our beliefs and

goals against them that’s when they tell

us to know our place as children and

we’re not grown enough to understand the

world yet

as parents you should take time to speak

to your children and ask them about

their worries and problems

because though it may seem as if they’re

okay they can be suffering alone in

silence

don’t belittle their ideas just because

you think it’s immature

try to see things from their perspective

and understand why it is they do the

things

we do there is no such thing as bad

children or disappointing children

they’re just kids who need a little more

guidance to them it may seem as if we

don’t have problems but we are facing

our own inner demons because at the end

of the day we’re all still human

i hope you were able to learn more about

the insight of teenage mind from this

ted talk