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Children are losing their childhood to a smartphone-dominated lifestyle, which negatively impacts their mental health, social skills, and overall development. The pervasive influence of social media fosters isolation, anxiety, and distorted relationships, preventing healthy emotional and cognitive growth.

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1. Loneliness - Teens feel isolated as they rely on social media for approval and validation, but the superficial connections lead to more loneliness instead of genuine relationships.

2. Friendliness - Teens feel the need to constantly showcase their friendliness on social media through posts and streams, which can become harmful when it leads to over checking and dependence on external validation.

3. Social media trap - Teens get caught in a cycle where they believe the content they see online is real, unaware of how it traps them in a world of fake or harmful influences.

4. Collective-action problem - Teens use social media despite knowing its negative effects because they fear being excluded by their peers if they don’t participate.

5. Network effects - Teens feel the need to join social media because everyone else is doing so, and once they join, it’s hard to leave as the pressure to fit in increases.

6. Experience blocker - Social media prevents teens from engaging with real-world experiences, as they become absorbed in the virtual world, blocking them from living fully in reality.

7. Validation seeking - Teens constantly seek approval and likes from social media, basing their self-worth on how much engagement their posts receive, which harms their self-esteem.

8. Attention fragmentation - The constant notifications and multitasking on social media disrupt teens’ focus and attention span, making it harder for them to concentrate on meaningful tasks in the real world.

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The rise of the technology based childhood has reshaped the years of an entire generation. The digital shift not only altering how children engage with the world around them, but also stunts the crucial social and emotional development needed. Leaving all children vulnerable to higher rates of anxiety, depression, and a diminished sense of purpose. If left unnoticed by the world, the transformation could lead to a society where the foundational skills for healthy interpersonal interactions and the overall self-understanding can significantly weakened. Which has a wide range of damage, being either workplace productivity to basic civic engagement. Addressing this issue is very crucial to preserving the mental and social well-being of our future generation.

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Sub-Claim 1: The Mental Health Impact of a Smartphone-Based Childhood

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Sub-Claim 1: The Mental Health Impact of a Smartphone-Based Childhood

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Children who grew up in a immersed smartphone-based lifestyle experience heightened levels of anxiety and depression. Which all disrupts their emotional and psychological well-being.

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In the article, Haidt states "From 2010 to 2019, the number who agreed that their lives felt 'meaningless' increased by about 70 percent, to more than one in five." (Haidt, 2024) This data provides the fact that the psychological toll that digital immersion has on the adolescents lives. Contributing to the feelings of despair and a loss of direction.

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A whistleblower in Facebook whom Haidt mentions, states that "Teens blame Instagram for increase in the rates of anxiety and depression among teens," This also proves that even the feedback from teenagers themselves bring out the true fault for their sudden changes. As more people use the platform, the more it exploits user's vulnerabilities, amplifying their insecurities and leading to a widespread of psychological issues.

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Sub-Claim 2:  Social Media as a Collective-Action Problem 

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Sub-Claim 2:  Social Media as a Collective-Action Problem 

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Social media has trapped both the children and their parents in a collective-action problem. Despite knowing the harm of it, the usage continues to grow due to the fear of social exclusion and the normalization of this digital lifestyle.

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Haidt explains that while social media is often compared to tobacco. Despite that, its still considered insidious as stated in the article "Social media accomplishes a remarkable feat: It even harms adolescents who do not use it" (Haidt, 2024) This shows that social media has created an environment where opting out leads to two different versions of mental health struggles, making it for families to escape its influence. As one side feels the fear of being left out while the other feels empty as time goes on.

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Haidt references to a study that was conducted by University of Chicago, where the economist Leonardo Bursztyn stated that students were willing to deactivate. Where in the article it states, "In each case, most students were willing to pay to have that happened" (Haidt, 2024) Students are willing to accept their accounts being deactivated, but aren't willing to cause others aren't doing so as well. Indicating a classic collective-action problem, where individuals are deterred rom making a change unless others do the same.

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Sub-Claim 3: Social Media's Amplification of Vulnerabilities and Insecurities

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Sub-Claim 3: Social Media's Amplification of Vulnerabilities and Insecurities

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Social Media algorithms target the insecurities and vulnerabilities of children and adolescents, leading to a distorted sense of identity and mental health issues that are difficult to reverse.

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Freya India, a British essayist from the article, Haidt describes how "Gen Z were the guinea pigs in this uncontrolled global social experiment. We were the first to have our vulnerabilities and insecurities fed into a machine that magnified and refracted them back at us, all the time, before we had any sense of who we were" (Haidt, 2024) This evidence provides a illustration of how social media intensifies negative emotions and fosters and environment that amplifies insecurities. All at the end shaping the adolescent's development in harmful ways.

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The article notes that Haidt mentions that a 27-year-old man who grew up addicted to video games and adult websites shared that he "Missed out on a lot of stuff in life- a lot of socialization" which he now feels like a "hollow operating system" (Haidt, 2024) This statement from the 27-year-old man reveals the long-term consequences anything online can cause on one's vulnerabilities. Which can be exploited easily during formative years, as it leads to stunted social development and the inability to connect meaningfully with others in adulthood.

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Sub-Claim 4: Smartphones and Social Media Disrupt Brain Development in Children

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Sub-Claim 4: Smartphones and Social Media Disrupt Brain Development in Children

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Smartphones and social media not only impact children's social and emotional health but also hinders their cognitive and neurological development, impeding their ability to focus and think critically.

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In the article it states that Haidt highlights the impact on cognitive development, which he explains how the smartphones function is an "experience blocker" (Haidt, 2024) Which prevents children from engaging with their surroundings and inhibiting their natural cognitive growth. Along with that he argues that smartphones divert attention away from real-world experiences that are crucial for developing problem-solving and social skills for these children.

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In the article, Haidt also discusses how the lack of independence and real-world interactions lead to developmental deficits: Which in the article it states, "The pervasive sense of uselessness now found in surveys of high-school students might being to dissipate" (Haidt, 2024) If only more parents trusted their children with more responsibility and encouraged them to experience life outside of the screens. Which suggest that the constant exposure to the digital platforms prevent children from developing a sense of autonomy and competence.

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The fear of being considered weird and alienated brings more teens into the social media world. As they fear they will be left out of the normality of their age.

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With that being said, people use these vulnerabilities they find online about other people in order to encourage cyberbullying as well. Which harms the children more as they develop more into grown teens.

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Along with this, missing out on true face to face interactions prevents someone to socially develop correctly. But with the addiction of the internet on teen's hands, it prevents them from interacting in a more in person manner. Bringing social media into an addiction problem, as kids can't break out of the urging need of checking social media constantly.

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Once again bringing out the fear of cyberbullying online and the term "dead-scrolling" as teens get more attached with social media. This relates to the Sub-Claim 3 add on as well.

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Haidt mentions that we can simply bring society together and remove the norm of using social media daily, encouraging teens to stop using social media slowly.

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Sub-Claim 5: Social Media Exacerbates Feelings of Loneliness

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Sub-Claim 5: Social Media Exacerbates Feelings of Loneliness

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Children and teens who turn to social media for validation and connection tend to end up feeling more isolated and lonely. The online world fails to provide genuine emotional support.

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The Atlantic article "End of Phone-Based Childhood Now" States that Haidt mentions that "Teens blame Instagram for increase in the rates of anxiety and depression among teens" (Haidt, 2024) Which this evidence provides how teens feel isolated, and how its consistent across groups.

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The article highlights that many teens feel as if they are on a "conveyor belt to someplace bad" (Haidt, 2024) As they are aware that their vulnerabilities are being amplified by the social media algorithms which are designed to keep them engaged with their platform.

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Counterargument: Social Media Provides Connection and Self-Expression

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Counterargument: Social Media Provides Connection and Self-Expression

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Some may argue that social media offers significant benefits for adolescents, such as fostering connections, providing platforms for self-expression, and finally allowing teens to find a community where they feel accepted. This connection can help teens cope with feelings such as isolation, especially during challenging times they may have.

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Despite the concerns about social media, it has been suggested that platforms like Instagram or TikTok allow teens to explore their identities and express themselves in ways that might not be possible in real life. As the article state, Haidt mentions that he acknowledges "Some teens may benefit from the sense of connection and belonging that social media platforms can offer, particularly for those who feel isolated in their offline environments" (Haidt, 2024)

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Once again bringing out how teens are self-aware of their issues but can't break out of the problem.

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Having teens aware of the sources they are provided with for bullying will help combat this issue. As a community we need to bring the awareness of cyberbullying and allow victims to be heard and taken care of.

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Sub-Claim 6: Entrapping Adolescents in a harmful environment  

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Sub-Claim 6: Entrapping Adolescents in a harmful environment  

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Social media creates a space where adolescents are drawn into an unhealthy cycle of misinformation, manipulation, and distorted realities. As children and teens increasingly rely on social media platforms, they become more susceptible to harmful content and deceptive online behaviors, which can distort their perception of the world.

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Also noting that "when teens receive negative feedback or a lack of engagement on their posts, it can exacerbate feelings of worthlessness and isolation" (Haidt, 2024) This illustrates how social media interactions can create a harmful feedback loop, further entrenching adolescents in a fake environment.

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Haidt points out that "the more time young people spend on social media, the more likely they are to experience feelings of loneliness and depression" (Haidt, 2024) This statistic highlights the direct correlation between social media and how its a trap for teens. As the sources online may be fake, therefore harming teens more.

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Allowing teens to get truthful sources provided by a safe source and providing a security measure that checks feedbacks from other teens preventing harmful messages from being reached.

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All going back to how teens who tend to "dead-scroll" online tend to see more harmful content, which most of the time are fake as they are just content seeking for attention.