It’s time that an issue be announced in a way that can be both easily understood as well as barely comprehended. Suicide is rising. Children are dying, bleeding from their wrists and crying themselves to eternal sleep. It is a dark and scary world that is being closed off from the eyes that need to see it most. Why is this happening? Why are these kids, sometimes as young as only ten years old, feeling the need to end their lives before they even begin?

Let’s start with the main issue in today’s culture. Social media has been at its peak as of late and with new apps developing further each second it is clear that social media will not be ending anytime soon. But why would something created as a communications platform lead to such violent outbursts? The answer is more simple than anyone could imagine. However, people ignore these simple factors with ease and forget to take them into account until the time has come or is passed due for yet another young life.

How about we check into a very popular app called TikTok. It was a social platform developed to spread creativity and connections across the globe. However, in all honesty, is this the only thing that people are using this app for? The answer is no. Young kids are being sexualized on this app or feeling like they need to sexualize themselves in order to receive attention. While this may seem like the worst of it there is more. While this is a common problem that is not being properly recognized it is also the duty of the child’s parents to protect their children from such exposures. 

Something that is more severe and tends to often take place over any social app is harassment. Reading this, you may have to stop and think on the significance of this issue because it’s not like the issue is never recognized. However, that is the main problem! This issue has been recognized in many ways and slept on by society. Why? What good does it do to complain about a situation but make no effort to change it? Why do we sit back and watch things that we know are wrong take place only to later say that we are used to it? Why dpo we spend our days crying over a message left by a commenter who has had a bad day and chose you to pick on? The answer is also simple. It’s normal.

This is not okay. We are not okay to be living in a society who has fought so hard to protect our future generation only to tear that belief up as the generation slowly kills itself off. The constant rage that is caused over social media is insane. The world has always had its issues yet we were able to handle them. But with this new rate in advancements of open technology being promoted to children who are being taught not to care the world will never change.

Want to know what else is messed up with social media? Let’s look into an app called Facebook. Many more adults will be more familiar with this app instead of kids but it is still a major issue lining society’s cruel take at each other. For one good example, the term, “you’re gay,” is dropped each minute. Maybe it is being posted in a meme or a gif or a comment or a post. But does it truly matter how it got there? What matters is the fact that it is being said any way. What ever happened to “gay” meaning happiness or loving someone of the same gender? Instead children and adults alike are using this term to break people down and make them feel ashamed.

More good kill words are known as, “slut”, “n-word”, “whore”, “dirty”, “worthless”, “stupid”, “retarded.” I want you to truly think and ask yourself, when did you last read this word on a social app? These words are not meant to be uplifting. They are meant to tear down and degrade people to feeling so frail that they just can’t breathe. They are lead on a tight rope to a point in their lives where all they can see is a deep shadowy valley as their future. Another question you can ask yourself, when was the last time you said or heard these words being spoken? Maybe it was just a no big deal type of conversation and each word was taken as a joke. Who is to tell you that no one within ear shot could have taken those words to heart or thought that they weren’t made out in a joking manor.

This is what the world has come to. I am a highschooler currently in my second year and I couldn’t tell you how many times I have to hear these words being said. And for the longest time I too have been guilty of pretending not to hear them. I used to always believe that keeping my head low and pretending nothing was said was the best way to live. In fact, in moments of my own frustrations I have used words beyond vulgar to solve my problems and face truths I didn’t like. However, this is not the way to live! 

We must open our eyes to what is going on in the world around us! There are children screaming for help and being masked out with technology of our own creation. We announce how we strive to advance our next generation but pay no mind to how they slowly pick themselves off into nothingness. We complain over the slightest disruptions in life and make them known to the world using pictures and words zipping through wireless connections. But who are we to complain when there are families who have to pray they can make it to their next meal? Why do we, as a society, feel that it is okay for us to be ignorant to our own faults and abuse others for theirs just because we need to feel better? Why should I as a highschool student have to walk into school or log onto social media and immediately hear someone wish they didn’t have to live? We need to start facing reality that the world isn’t okay as it is. Posters and hotlines can only do so much. People need to start standing up for what matters and make a difference.

As a final note and the hardest piece of information to grasp, there are too many people out there who are abusing the help that is being offered. They cry wolf in ways that are unimaginable and make it hard for those people who need the help to receive it. This is why, as a whole society it is time for everyone to make a change. No more pretending. No more standing by and watching with closed eyes. It is time to stand up and take matters into our own hands. To put it in the best words, “If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change.”