The dangers of the Internet and how it can affect the health and well-being of children and teens.
By: Abigail Ray
With the new cell phone ban announced for the 2026-2027 school year, the safety of phones has been debated. Not only the safety of having phones at school or not, but also about general safety on the internet.
The internet is a vast information hub that everyone with a device has access to. Social media apps like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat have been used greatly by teenagers around the world.
Teenagers, however, are not the only ones with access to the apps. Many adults and even people younger than teenagers have access to the internet and are free to post, comment, and like anything they want.
Photo Credit Canyon Creek Behavioral Health
This can lead to unsafe behaviors that teenagers and children can be exposed to.
A story shared with me by a student at Redwood High School, who will remain anonymous, is frightening. This student claimed to have been reached out to by multiple adults requesting or sharing inappropriate material with them.
“It was so easy for them to reach me,” they say. “The fact that anyone can send you anything is scary.”
This surprisingly isn’t the only danger social media can pose to teenagers. Online bullying occurs every day on apps like Instagram and Snapchat.
Another student who chose to remain anonymous, tells us that they experienced online bullying on Instagram.
They received a message during Thanksgiving one year criticizing their acting skills and experience, and claimed they were a bad and rude person from seemingly one of their friends.
It turned out that this friend’s account had been hacked, and it was not them, but someone else messaging this student and saying hurtful things, using the mask of one of their friends to get away with it.
The internet being a place of free speech and freedom of expression is great for some people like those involved with small businesses, people who are artists, writers, and heads of companies and advertisements.
Despite this, like with everything, malicious people with bad intentions will find a way to use it and will, indefinitely, abuse it.
Internet safety is a valuable thing to know and can save you from dangerous and harmful interactions while online.
Abigail Ray
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