After my sophomore year at Keene State College, I returned home to find a very different community than the one I had left.
My brothers, who are still in high school, told me tales of the number of freshmen who were struggling with confidence and even some who were suicidal.
The reality of my hometown’s distressed teenagers shocked me.
I wondered if I had not been aware of the number of people who lack confidence or are suicidal when I was in high school.
I supposed I had matured into a more socially aware citizen.
I concluded that I must now be more aware of people’s struggles.
Erin D’Aleo / Equinox Staff
Despite my inability to see the lack of confidence at first, the truth is there has been a visible shift in the number of kids struggling with self-esteem.
This is supported by the organization Suicide Awareness/Voices of Education (SAVE), a suicide-awareness website that provides statistics on suicide.
According to SAVE, “For young people fifteen to twenty years old, suicide is the second leading cause of death.”
I believe the issue stems from the over-use and addiction to cell phones.
I know if my brothers read this article they would describe all sorts of reasons explaining why they believe I am overreacting.
As one of my brothers argued over the summer, “Why should I stop a conversation that started before dinner, if a text only takes four seconds to write and send?”
To me, his argument is flawed. My brother is missing the importance of the “here-and-now.”
While he is engrossed in his virtual conversations he misses connections that are beginning to form right in front of him.
I longed for him to realize that I only had three months at home before returning to college and I did not want him to miss a second of it.
Along with the loss of the “here-and-now,” there is a serious danger presented when people indulge in overuse of cell phones.
Young adults are enticed by the lives of people on Instagram and Facebook.
These sites depict lives that undergo editing and selective presentation in order to display the best of the person.
Young people enthralled with others’ lives forget to find the merit in themselves while they are engrossed in the value of other people.
During the age that most young adults buy cell phones, they are experiencing their most impressionable times.
In a study of young people titled “Young Adolescent Learner” by Fran Salyers and Carol McKee, it was found that “young adolescents experience more growth than any other time in their life except for infancy.”
This statement refers to both physical and emotional growth.
Unfortunately, instead of discovering themselves, this age group fills their spare moments encircled by false beliefs of other people’s lives.
As a result, young people may lose the opportunity to develop into confident people.
Lucinda Wilson and Hadley Wilson Horch, in their 2002 article, “Middle School Journal,” highlight the impressionability of the teenage mind.
In their article, the development of the teenage brain is called “hardwiring.”
Wilson states that the teenage prefrontal cortex is the center of development in a teenage brain.
The “Wise Geek” website lists social control, regulation of behavior, abstract thinking and decision-making as responsibilities of the prefrontal cortex.
“The process of ‘hardwiring,’ which continues throughout adolescence, means that the intellectual activities given the most time and the most opportunity to strengthen the connections in the brain, will influence learning for the rest of the student’s life,” Wilson said.
Though the student described in the previously stated article studies a different subject than cell phones and the world they provide, this statement identifies the easily-influenced state children are in when they receive their first phone.
Unfortunately, multiple outlets for comparison attack the age, that to me, seem to be most pertinent in order to develop a confident person.
I am unable to speak for everyone my age.
However, when I put pictures on my Instagram or Facebook the photos that pass inspection are the pictures that are the most flattering and depict the fun that I was sure to be having at the time.
When I am with my friends sometimes the best part of the night is taking pictures for Facebook or Instagram, for all of my 1,000 plus friends to see.
These sites benefit many in terms of the ability to stay connected to people.
However, they are also podiums for you to display your life, or what you want the world to think your life is.
According to the Business Insider website, 1.4 billion people own smartphones. The majority of developing teenagers have access to other people’s lives.
As young adults between the ages of 10 and 15 are the most susceptible to losing confidence, it is unhealthy for them to focus on other people’s purported successes and beauty.
They are at the age where their own identity must be discovered.
While they are engrossed in others’ lives, teens are unable to discover their own merit.
Anna Glassman can be contacted at aglassman@keene-equinox.com