Social interaction has become a very difficult thing in 2018, especially among high school students. Teenagers use social media to converse with others and there is little face to face communication anymore. Is social media really the issue or is it the internal feeling of the student?

You may have never heard some of your peers say a single word to one another, but have you seen them texting eachother? If your answer is yes, it might be because speaking to another person is difficult for them, which is may be because of social anxiety. Social anxiety is the fear of interaction with other people, also known as the fear or anxiety of being judged negatively and evaluated by other people. Social anxiety is very common in teenagers and many often wonder why interacting with others, in person is much more difficult than to someone over the phone.

Ms. Roxie Smith states that, “People need people, they need communications, they need to see gestures, emotion behind the words. Many people are confused because you can’t find emotion behind a text message”

She sees many students walk into her classroom upset because of a miscommunication over text message. She feels as if it may be due ot the lack of the ability to detect true emotion through text message.

“How many teens are not getting sleep because they are playing a game or on Facebook before they actually go to bed,” states Ms. Smith, when asked about benefits from lowered phone usage.  

Not using technology as much as usual can be extremely beneficial. Go outside, talk to your family, and appreciate what you have outside of technology.

You may be dying to see who sent you that text message, or what the text says, but bringing phone usage to a minimum is important for mental health. Without technology, you will adopt better communication skills and appreciate what is outside of the phone screen.