Balance: A Young Person's Blog

As a teenager surrounded by a world of social media and screens, it can be overwhelming and stressful, but it doesn't have to be.

As important as it is to take time offline, it's equally as important to discover the world of social media and online activity, it all depends on how you use it. I find that social media can be a place to express yourself while allowing others who feel the same to do so.

In my personal experience, I have found it to be a very positive place. There are sides of social media that could easily change my view and experiences. A side which romanticises mental issues and diagnoses people's feelings along with many other things, with a constant changing feed, it's very common to reach the negative areas in social media but it's needed for me not to give clout to these sides.

On the communication aspect, I would say I'm very engrossed in it. I enjoy calling, messaging and playing online with friends and strangers. However, I do find the pressure of joining calls so you don't miss out and hopping on games so you don't feel left out, does affect me, I try not to prioritise my social media over things like school work and revision, but I do let it. It's easy to scroll for too long and forget. Not to say social media hasn't helped me, I've created lots of closer friendship bonds with those who I might not have in school or clubs and while social media can be unaccepting at times, I find a place of acceptance in my hobbies, music, movie taste, and opinions. 

Social media is a never-ending spectrum of everything you agree/disagree with, enjoy/don't enjoy and love/hate, so I think it’s very important to explore as much as you can to find where you fit in and agree. 

Written by Grace, 15 years old at Seaford Head School.