How is Social Media Effecting Your Teen

Six high school teens from Milford, Franklin, Northbridge, and Uxbridge recently conducted a survey of 29 high school students from these towns on their use of social media. The results were not surprising. The large majority of the teens surveyed reported using Facebook and Twitter for more than two hours each day. About half of the teens also reported having Smartphones, which gives them constant access to the online media.

The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that 75% of seventh through twelfth graders have a profile on a social media site. Teens are using social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr for hours a day and the effects are beginning to show. New research is emerging that links the use of social media by teens to poor academic achievement and psychological disorders

such as anxiety and depression.1 Additionally, a 2011 survey by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that teens that spend time on social media sites are more likely to smoke, drink, and do drugs than teens that do not use social media.

When: Thursday, June 14 2012, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Where: Hockomock Area YMCA,

Franklin Branch,

45 Forge Hill Road,

Franklin, MA

Register: Online at www.YourTeen.org  The cost to register is $10 per person or $15 for two people registered together. Refreshments will be served.