You say you want the hate to end. You want the lies to stop, the disrespect, and the bullying. You cringe at the harsh words said back and forth online. The alternate world of the Internet has corrupted honest people’s minds and given them an easy, accessible way to manipulate others. This other world within our computers has not only provided an easy way to bully others but has negatively impacted many users’ lives. The immense popularity of social media has affected many aspects of the Internet: productivity levels, privacy, cyber bullying, and communication. So, parents, do something. If you want to see this generation and future generations of kids be saved from the bitter ways of the Internet, don’t just sit around and wait for a change. Be the change.

Yes, the cheesy phrases of “protecting the corrupted” and “be the change” have been thrown into context, but that shouldn’t take away from underlying meaning. Although there are rewarding and beneficial aspects that are uncovered by social media, we must protect the future generations from being brainwashed by the ways of the Internet. The cruel, bitter faults from exposing personal information to the cyber world. Because the ways of life are changing and the unawareness of the negative impacts of social media has caused upsetting outcomes. So, I ask, to simply think and be aware of how social media can corrupt your children’s minds and disturb the peace there once was.

Social media has become an easy and accessible way to communicate with others and yes, our future will involve social media. Lots of people believe more voices can be heard and important topics can be discussed within larger audiences. But although this may be of importance, face-to-face communication will become a thing of the past, diminishing real life relationships. Social media has made it difficult to distinguish between the bonds formed over the Internet and meaningful relationships we create in the real world. We dedicate so much of our time toward the relationships created online, that we take away from strengthening the meaningful ones in our lives. Studies from the Child Health Explanation shows that 25% of all teens present signs of depression due to social media sites. With excessive use of social media sites the percentage of teens suffering from depression will continue to rise. The elimination of face to face communication has and will continue to be a benefactor towards mental, physical, emotional, and psychological problems: depression, anxiety, somatic complaints and many others. So instead of letting your kids waste hours and hours hunched over the computer, being captivated by a person they barely know, get them participating in the real world, engaging in real life experiences. A positive change may be waiting to happen.

With social media influencing everyday life, communication skills our society once possessed will begin to weaken and we will forget; we will soon turn the world upside down and diminish all real face to face contact. A study conducted by USA Today College found that even when there is an opportunity to see people face-to-face, on weekends for example, up to 11% of adults still prefer to stay at home and communicate on their devices instead. This number will continue to rise with the amount of users on social media sites. And although you may be inches away from someone physically, mentally their mind will be in another world, interacting with people thousands of miles away, and the prospect of communication will be gone. One hundred- forty characters, misspelled words, and childish abbreviations have led our society to halt any meaningful conversations. Because with the restrictions Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites have provided us with, it may take hours to get a serious point across without the use of abbreviated slang. And we don't want our president to make a speech using over used terms like, “lol” or “jk,” now do we?

Finally, the drive to stay involved with online interactions and media updates has consequently caused a decrease in productivity levels. Nucleus research claimed that Facebook has shaved 1.5% of office productivity around the world. How many of us are guilty of starting a project and minutes through pull out our buzzing phones, get enthralled in a conversation, and forget all about that assignment? We all do. I sure do. This just shows the large impact social networking has created on our society. And it won't be long before our world will have broken backs and over cramped fingers from spending too many hours contemplating what Justin Bieber had for dinner last night with utter strangers around the world. Shouldn’t something be done about this? Anything to savor the work ethics we will soon be lacking because that is what our future depends on.

Not only will work ethic be consequently affected, but the way your child responds to information put online. As you watch your child pull out their phone, log onto a media site and frantically begin typing away, do you see their face drop, their head lower, or concern drawn on their face? The look of devastation sweeps away their good mood. More than likely this is due to a post found on a social networking site. A disappointing recognition, a cynical comment, or a simple uncovering of news that was tough to hear can ruin a day for any person. This is what the Internet can do to people: change their moods in a split second. A nano second is all it will take for a smile to fade to an oppressive, bleak frown upon a face. Rejection is a big fear among social network users. The amount of “friends” you have on Facebook or Twitter can make a person feel accepted or the completely alone. A person with 700 followers compared to a person with 20 followers can make someone feel isolated, forgotten, and empty inside. According to a recent study by Non-Profit Anxiety UK, over half of the social media users polled said Facebook, Twitter and other networking sites had changed their lives -- and 51 percent of those said it's not been for the better. Lives of teenagers are taken every day from the heartbreaking outcomes of cyber bullying. Three years ago, a 13 year-old girl took her life after being a victim of cyber bullying. A simple friend request from a boy resulted in a devastating suicide. The person who pretended to be a sixteen year old boy, who had be so nice to her for six months, ended up being an ex-friend looking to hurt this innocent girl. Nothing can hurt a person more than receiving comments so hurtful that he or she doesn’t want to live anymore. So powerful that you would take your own life. I can only hope that an agonizing tragedy of a teenage girl can make you believe in the harm social media can inflict on people and the power words have.

Future generations will not be able to remember a time when social media wasn’t used in everyday life, when you left a classroom and did not immediately crank open your phone. What does this say about what our future will come to be? Will social media take over how our country is run? These answers will ultimately lay in the hands of our parents, the parents who will create a foundation for the future generations to come and impact how social media will be seen and used. We may never be able to go back to a social media-free world, but limitations and reduction of technology will surely shine light on our society.