RAB Source Entry 2 – Belinda

Research question: “How does social media affect the mental health of younger girls?”

Proposal:

This topic interests me because I feel like it’s an interesting topic knowing what the impact it has on mental health and what it does to the girls because I am a girl myself who has been through it all with social media affecting my mental health. I feel like it’s an interesting topic to know about where being able to know the effects it has on younger girls as myself is something that I feel like it needs to be taken seriously and needs to be discussed more. It’s interesting to see how much social media really can do to you. I already know that social media has negative impacts on mental health in younger girls because I, myself, know how it feels and understand how it is like to compare myself to other girls online. I also know and came to realize the difference between how I was before I was introduced to the social media world and then when I was more involved with social media, I just feel like I’ve become a different person. Lastly, I know that there are many young girls out there going through the same thing as I am when on social media. Some points that I plan to explore and find out more about are what the researchers found about how social media is impacting the girls’ mental health. What are the outcomes of spending too much time on social media? How can girls change their strategies of being on social media where it can be a positive experience instead of focusing on the negative.  

Part 1 MLA citation 

Englander, Elizabeth, and Meghan K. McCoy. “Analysis: There’s a Mental Health Crisis among Teen Girls. Here Are Some Ways to Support Them.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 24 Feb. 2023, www.pbs.org/newshour/health/analysis-theres-a-mental-health-crisis-among-teen-girls-here-are-some-ways-to-support-them. 

Part 2: Summary

In the article, “Analysis: There’s a mental health crisis among teen girls. Here are some ways to support them” by Elizabeth Englander and Meghan K. McCoy, demonstrates data of the percentage reports of topic like suicide attempt or feeling sadness. On the website of this article however, there is also a youtube link where it talks about how depression can look like in teenagers and the different warning signs that can occur in teenagers to look out for such as teenagers being more irritated than usual, grades are declining or having difficulty focusing. They also provided different ways to help better and support their mental health. And throughout the different ways to help them, again on the website, it provided another video where it talks about Skylar’s story with how her depression journey begins and how it affected her. It occurred when she was in 4th grade. The article ended with the last way of supporting girls’ mental health. 

Part 3: Reflection

I think Elizabeth Englander and Meghan K. McCoy provided excellent way of demonstrating how many girls are affected and were surveyed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on suicide attempts and feeling sadness. I feel like this source is a great way for people to be aware and able to visualize how many girls are impacted by the data being provided. And I agree with all the different ways that can help and support girls on their mental health such as how important it is to make sure that girls are aware of how much social media has an effect on their mental health and how they think. I feel like it is important to realize that because if there is awareness, the girl can be conscious of the choices that they are making or develop a good patterns usage of social media where it can give a positive experience on the platform. A quote from the article that I really like is “A second factor is social media, which can be a wonderful source of support but also, at times, a crushing blow to the self-esteem and psychological well-being of girls.” I like this quote because I believe that this is a true statement where social media can be a positive way of spreading positivity and empowerment with each other, however it can also be a negative experience for girls by going through cyberbullying from others. 

Part 4: Rhetorical Analysis

Elizabeth Englander and Meghan K. McCoy, the author of “Analysis: There’s a mental health crisis among teen girls. Here are some ways to support them” talks about how social media impacts on girls mental health by providing survey reports by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the different ways to help better the mental health or support. The primary audience would mainly be the parents but it can also be teenagers even if they want advice just because in the article it mentioned, “Teaching kids to recognize their feelings.” Both of the authors created this article because they want to be able to spread awareness of what is going on to girls’ mental health from social media. This would be a news/feature piece article because it’s informing the readers about what is happening to the mental health of girls when being involved with  social media. And the authors of this article are both reliable because they’re from PBS newshours which is one of the most trusted news programs online. 

Part 5: Notable Quotables

“A second factor is social media, which can be a wonderful source of support but also, at times, a crushing blow to the self-esteem and psychological well-being of girls.” (Englander & McCoy 1)

“Research has found that social media encourages competition between girls, particularly around their physical appearance.” (Englander & McCoy 2)

“…seeing the things that others post, and comparing it with your own stuff, can make people of any age feel anxious about how they’re appearing, and whether they’re being socially included or excluded. This anxiety applies to both boys and girls, but the potential for emotional distress seems to be higher for girls.” (Englander & McCoy 3)