Persuasive Essay Example on Youth Should Not Have a Phone

In today's society it is not uncommon for kids sixteen and under to have social media. In fact a staggering “...84 percent of teenagers now have their own phones…” ( Kamenetz, Anya. “It's a Smartphone Life: More than Half of U.S. Children Now Have One.” paragraph 1) With the rise of the number of kids having access to social media through phones comes the consequences with it. Consequences like mental illness, sleep loss, and violence that can come with having phones too young to understand right from wrong. With these costly consequences it's unquestioned that our youth should not be allowed to have phones and access to social media.

For example one of the effects of having a phone and access to social media too young is the mental effects. Mental effects like depression, suicide, aneraroxica, and anxiety are linking to youth with phones. For example according to “Smartphones and Social Media.”, Child Mind Institute “Boys’ depression increased by 21% between 2012 and 2015, and girls’ increased by 50%. In addition to that an alarmly increasing number of our youth has said to feel “displacement. This displacement  can greatly increase the risk of sucide. In fact “Teens who sleep less than even hours a night are also 68% more likely to have at least one risk factor for suicide.(Smartphones and Social Media.” Child Mind Institute,Pharagraph 1 ) There is also a higher risks of depression and suicide acording to (Board, 2018) as a side effect of excessive screen time. In addition to those horrendous consequences, the constant babarment of “diet culture” on social media has increased the number of youth with eating disorders including aneraroxica. Infact with aneraroxica alone “…among children aged eight to 17 years old, there are 13.7 new cases of anorexia per 100,000 people per year. Among girls the estimate was higher, at 25.7 per 100,000, with the age of diagnosis peaking at 15 years old.” (“Number of Children with Anorexia on the Rise, Researchers Find.” The Guardian, paragraph 12) 

Sleep loss is also a common side effect of excessive screen time. In fact, according to  “Smartphones and Social Media.” mediocre With sleep loss comes the side effects. Side effects like academic effects, loss of cognitive function, and loss of socioemotional functioning. With sleep loss comes the higher risk of being prone to mental illness, thus the effect on socioemotional functioning. Sleep loss can affect academic effects by becoming lethargic, unable to concentrate, and unmotivated. It can also affect the child's creativity therefore affecting the quality of work. Sleep loss can also affect your thinking causing the student grades to decline.  

With our youth having access to social media through phones also brings the risks of violence in our youth. Such violence in fact that it “prompts them to accept that violent behavior is simply a normal way to solve problems.” (VImafidon, Casey. “10 Reasons You Shouldn't Hand a Smartphone to Your Children, paragraph 4.” Violence like gang initiation and  overall desentization to violence. The desensitization to violence is brought on by being exposed to violence through social media and games.  It has been known and studied for about forty years that violence in movies, video games, television, and on social media can affect one's mood and or behavior. According to Milford, et al “a new trend called  “Fight Compilations”,  has become increasingly popular on sites such as World Star Hip Hop and YouTube. Fight Compilations are videos composed of fight snippets that everyday people record, usually on their cell phones.” 

On the other hand people argue that they support kids to have phones for their safety. Aslo so they can keep in touch with friends and family. Some individuals have even argued the social standpoint, saying that if they don’t allow their kids to have a phone that it is making them “an outsider”. In regards to a child's safety It is no doubt in this time and age having a phone helps in keeping your child safe. However with this age group their brain is not fully developed and do not fully understand the consequences for their actions which can put them in even more danger. Danger like human trafficking. For example ‘’... the number of children under the age of 18 estimated at 5.5 million (25%).” (“Human Trafficking by the Numbers.” Human Rights First, a global problem,) For your child to talk to long distant friends and family they do not need their own phone. Rather they could use their parents phone with their supervision. Finally for the social argument it can actually cause decline in face to face communication skills. For example,   “Cell phones, social media and technological interactions are ruining our generations' face to face communication skills. ... The findings showed that there is in fact a correlation between social anxiety of face to face interaction which increases with the amount of online interaction one participates in.”(Toadvine, Haley Amanda,“SIOWFA15: Science in Our World: Certainty and Controversy paragraph 1) 

With the great inclination of our youth having serious mental effects like depression, sucide, self harm ,eating disorders, sleep loss, and the risk of violence linked to having a phone. In addition to the cons trumping the pros of our youth having a phone. There is no doubt that our youth should not have a phone. Especially kids sixteen and under, with their freshly developing mind.