The internet has become increasingly synonymous with social media, whatever the reason we use it, we are constantly encouraged to share online activities with friends and followers across the platforms of social media. Social networking services (SNS) are more popular than ever among young people, and sharing our online activity on SNS is often considered a reflection on an individual's interests, thoughts and opinions. With technology now an integral part of education, it can be difficult for young people, as students, to distinguish between SNS as an educational resource for enhancing learning and a platform for sharing online activities as a means of gaining peer recognition. Numerous studies have looked at the effect of using SNSs in this way and how it might affect mental health and well-being, but the question of how it might impact an individual's academic performance remains controversial. This essay will, therefore, analyze the relationship between mental health problems and academic achievement, before discussing the impact that social media can have on mental health and education, critically discussing the issues, before concluding with some beneficial reviews . Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In 2017 the number of SNS users in the United Kingdom (UK) was estimated at up to 42 million, or approximately 62% of the population (Statista, 2017). This indicates the vast reach of SNSs and with smartphone accessibility becoming increasingly available to young people, these statistics are set to increase. The Pew Research Center found that 84% of people aged 18 to 29 in the United States are on Facebook, more than any other age group. Another recent Pew Research Center report found that "the 96% of teenagers have access to a smartphone' and are constantly on social media'. Although this data may be correct for 96% of the adolescents surveyed, the title of this data appears sensationalistic. It's hard to believe that the majority of teenagers use social media 'constantly', yet according to OECD data, over a third of British 15-year-olds are defined as 'extreme internet users', using the internet for more than six hours. , outside school on a typical weekend day. Although statistical data can often be unreliable, what we can deduce from this information is that young people use SNSs more than adults and use them more often; perhaps more importantly, we can conclude that social media has a greater hold on young people than on older generations. It is undeniable that young people suffer from increased mental health problems, for example, in 1999, 10 percent of children aged between five and fifteen had a mental disorder: five percent had clinically significant conduct disorders; 4% were rated as having emotional disorders, such as anxiety and depression, and 1% were rated as hyperactive. The same survey conducted five years later, in 2003, found a slight increase in results: once again one in ten children between the ages of five and fifteen had a mental disorder. However, when the survey was repeated in 2017, the data revealed a significant increase in the prevalence of mental disorders, rising from 9.7% in 1999 and 10.1% in 2004 to 11.2% in 2017. One in eight (12.8%), five to 19 year olds now suffer from at least one mental disorder, according to the 2017 assessment. In line with this increase in statistics, numerous studies have been conducted on the idea that healthmental influence on academic performance. It has been shown, for example, that students who suffer from depression, stress and anxiety have more difficulty retaining information, studying for exams and generally enjoying the school experience as a whole. While this research is widely regarded, it could be argued that all students are under pressure while studying for exams, and therefore any student who experiences stress related to revision and exams could theoretically be diagnosed with a mental health problem. What is more important is to discern students with external educational pressures or, considering past life or family difficulties, experiences that one negatively attributes to mental health issues. This could allow specialists to distinguish between pre-existing mental health conditions and those that arise naturally due to the pressures of the school environment. While many early researchers advocated the use of school-based mental health programs to assist youth (Opie & Slater 1998), Puskar & Bernardo (2007, pp. 216), went further by demonstrating that twenty percent of students in United States had undiagnosed mental health problems that caused “difficulties” with academic work. While this may have been the case for students interviewed at the time, much of this research could be considered outdated. What is important is to see whether mental health programs in schools are actually assisting students today. Due to budget cuts, many primary schools in the UK no longer employ a school nurse. This can be a problem because without a proper mental health assessment program, undiagnosed issues could affect a child's ability to reach his or her fullest potential as a student, negatively impacting overall well-being. This is highlighted by Maslow's (1943) Hierarchy of Needs, where the first four stages of his well-being pyramid could potentially be affected by mental health disorders. The hierarchy of needs remains in use today, as a relevant concept in assessing the stages of well-being associated with student learning. Evidently, the correlation between mental health problems and academic performance often negatively affects education, and while statistics have shown cases of mental health problems among young people are on the rise, some research has attempted to demonstrate that the use of SNSs is the main cause of this increase. According to a recent Ofcom report on internet use, one in ten people surveyed say they access the internet more than fifty times a day (Ofcom, 2016, pp. 30). The average time spent online has increased from twenty-five hours per week among adults, to twenty-nine hours for the 16-24 age group. 41% of people admitted to spending too much time online and some have experienced the negative effects of excessive internet use. While these studies have shown that some aspects of social networking, further outlined below, can be harmful, I am convinced that many negative effects experienced by users could be reversed through proper education about the dangers of spending too much time online. Many journal articles in the field of behavioral psychology have linked increased SNS use in youth to increased levels of anxiety, depression, and stress (Farahani, 2012). Banjanin et al. (2015) agree that links between increased stress and low levels of self-esteem are often related to how much time an individual spends using social media daily, while Woods and Scott (2012) examined how muchExtensive use of social media is related to sleep deprivation, self-esteem, anxiety and depression, experiencing a greater amount of time spent online are directly related to a negative impact on academic performance. Perhaps one of the biggest causes of mental health problems when using social networking sites is the need for users to portray themselves in the most positive way possible. Social media, for some, could be considered almost a “highlight reel”; an online persona created to manipulate an individual's identity in a way that does not reflect their overall life. Most people rarely choose to post negative images on social media pages, instead using them as a tool to express accomplishments and accomplishments. The effect of this behavior causes social circles to compete to show the best version of themselves, however, it could be argued that SNS users are giving too much credit to others' online characters and profiles. Studies show that the human ego plays a larger role in our online presence than we are consciously aware of. Peter and Schouten (2006) found a correlation between low levels of self-esteem and excessive use of Facebook, while Gonzales and Hancock (2011) agree, finding that viewing a social media profile has also been shown to increase self-esteem. self-esteem. This is further highlighted by Valkenburg et al. (2006), where receiving positive or negative feedback on an online profile was found to correspondingly increase or decrease self-esteem. Although these studies attempt to use quantitative data to understand problems arising from social media use, the results could be considered subjective to the opinion of the individual interviewed. I am convinced that Freud's (1923) seminal work on psychoanalysis could explain our online behavior. His tripartite definition of the subconscious of human behavior could hold the answers to why we seek gratification from peers while using SNSs and how this could lead to mental health problems. His Theory of Personality (1923), although never definitively proven, in my opinion, outlines an effective tool both for understanding our natural response to online content and for allowing us to rethink our subconscious responses accordingly, taking up some form of control by our natural reactions. An example of this would be our instantaneous, and often unconscious, reaction to viewing the online profile of someone of a higher socioeconomic strata. While using SNS, we may respond with subconscious feelings of low self-esteem, as highlighted by Peter and Schouten above (2006), questioning our personal achievements, or we may experience envy of others, even feeling signs of depression which surrounds our current life circumstances. Freud would attribute this phenomenon to the unconscious part of our psyche, known as the id, which responds to natural instincts and causes us to manifest selfish desires, “of desire in nature” (McLeod, 2016). Our ability to deny these instincts is defined by Freud as our ego, through which such natural desires are controlled by rational thought. For example, we might see a social network profile and initially feel jealous of another individual's lifestyle, but our ego reminds us to postpone satisfaction, or compromise, to avoid negative consequences. According to Freud, such negative consequences could include depression, anxiety or even stress, if not managed efficiently by the ego. In some cases, this could be the cause of a problemof mental health online, although it could be argued that social networking sites are not the only platform through which we are exposed to this event. TV celebrities have been a staple of our on-screen entertainment, long before Facebook existed, and, as a culture, we are constantly exposed to advertisements for consumer products that influence our subconscious. As adults, overexposure to advertising, experienced over a long period of time, leaves us normalized to the feelings they cause, our egos eventually leading us to compromise by understanding that we cannot purchase and own every product that is advertised to us. For an undeveloped mind the opposite is true, the saying of being a child in a candy shop comes to mind, where an undeveloped ego unleashes the id and pushes us to satisfy our natural instincts. In summary, I theorize that an undeveloped ego, or an inability to think critically about the repercussions of our online activity, could explain why young people in particular are more susceptible to developing mental health disorders when using online sites. social networking. That said, in theory a young person could go online and see that a friend has posted a picture of their new smartphone. While this act could conceivably contribute to jealousy, it is unlikely to affect the child's mental well-being. Conversely, this event could begin to affect an individual's mental health, if an SNS user engages too much in online activities, constantly comparing themselves to others, becomes depressed about their online personality, and begins to develop low self-esteem regarding their image. . This concept is exemplified by another potentially harmful effect of social media: body image. With increased emphasis placed on portraying the perfect online persona, young people are consistently found to have negative perceptions of body image. Already in 1999, Siegel et al. found that body image is related to low self-esteem and depression in young people, with a significant difference between girls and boys. Although additional studies have demonstrated a correlation between social media use and its effects on self-esteem, which often lead to depression and anxiety among adolescents, one key factor appears to influence much of the research on the topic: Tiggeman & Slater (2014 ), found the link between poor body image was influenced by the greater amount of time users spent on social media, which was particularly prevalent among girls. It seems like the same issues are being raised again and again: those who spend too much time online and are too invested in the representation they create of themselves on social media suffer the most from the negative effects this can create. While this may continue to be the most influential issue related to social media affecting mental health, an important factor to take into account when considering personal views on body image is the threat of cyberbullying. As mentioned above, young people's social circles seem to encourage each other to present themselves perfectly, respecting the unwritten rule that you should only show your best side. If a user posts an embarrassing picture or says the wrong thing on a social media site, this can increasingly lead to cyberbullying (Kowalaski et al., 2012). The NSPCC has shown that incidents of cyberbullying on social media platforms have increased dramatically (2014), while more recent statistics from the Educational Policy Institute (2017) show that the number of young people experiencing cyberbullying has increased incrementally.Douglas et al. (2012), argue that cyberbullying offers perpetrators a certain level of anonymity, while other studies have indicated that victims of cyberbullying already know the perpetrators offline (Spears et al., 2015). These data correlate with my conclusion: users are bullied more by their peers in social circles than by strangers. While this may be a result of SNSs being more accessible than ever, with Internet access widely available on smartphones, these platforms are often neither the cause nor the sole fault of cyberbullying. Numerous studies agree, considering the relationship between online and offline bullying among school-age children. While bullying of any form can affect an individual's mental health in obvious ways, Kiriakidis and Kavoura (2010) found that cyberbullying can have a negative impact on young people's psychosocial development, and just like offline bullying, cyberbullying can have harmful effects on themselves. -self-confidence causes social anxiety, depression and, in the worst cases, leads to self-harm. While cyberbullying is an ever-present threat to SNSs, research conducted by the BMC has found a relationship between the amount of time young people spend on social media and a greater risk of experiencing cyberbullying. Importantly, this study supports my previous thesis that users are much more likely to be affected by the negative effects of social media if they spend too much time online. Even more data, from ONS statistics, showed a “clear association” between the amount of time an individual spends on social media and an increase in mental health problems. Data has shown that young people on social media are twice as likely to develop symptoms of mental health problems if they use social media during a school day. There seems to be the same issues raised constantly: younger users spend too much time on SNS and are not properly educated about the harmful effects this could bring in some people. Having discussed the relationship between mental health problems and academic achievement and critically examined the evidence relating to the effects that social media can have on young people's mental health, some key questions continually emerge. Studies concur with my findings, in showing a link between students' digital literacy, combined with the amount of time children use SNS, without monitoring, is directly increasing the risk of suffering the potential negative effects of social media ( EPI, 2017). Excessive use of social media in this way can undoubtedly increase social anxiety, depression and stress, causing young people to feel insecure, even within their own friendship groups. My psychosocial examination of online behavior, using Freud's (1923) theory, argues that young people are more vulnerable to developing mental health problems than adults. This could be caused by insecurity-related issues, such as poor body image, or, more seriously, cyberbullying; either way, these problems could again lead to symptoms of anxiety, depression, and self-harm. My following assessment of these issues results in some possible beneficial revisions of the problems listed above: Above all, there is a clear need to efficiently inform and educate students and young people about the possible dangers of social media, trying to help them understand these dangers they are often caused by spending too much time online. In promoting digital literacy, people can be taught.