OVER THE LAST DECADE , PERSISTENT SADNESS AND HOPELESSNESS HAVE RISEN BY ALMOST SIXTY PERCENT .
ALMOST SIX IN TEN TEEN GIRLS FEEL PERSISTENTLY SAD AND HOPELESS .
These effects of excessive social media use are particularly true for young girls . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study that found almost six in ten teen girls feel persistently sad and hopeless , and that rate is twice the rate recorded for boys . 3 Over the last decade , persistent sadness and hopelessness have risen by almost sixty percent . The same study also found that one-third of teenage girls in 2021 considered killing themselves .
2 Corinthians 10:12 warns that it is foolish to “ classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves .” Paul reminds us that when we measure ourselves “ by one another and compare [ ourselves ] with one another , [ we ] are without understanding .”
John Stonestreet , President of The Colson Center for Christian Worldview , said , “ It is time to take teenage girls off social media . It is time . It is like putting a megaphone right up to their ear , where 24 / 7 all they ’ re hearing is that they ’ re wrong in some way , that they ’ re ugly in some way , that they just don ’ t measure up , that they ’ re not enough , that they ’ re bad , that they ’ re , you know , born in the wrong bodies , that they don ’ t look pretty . I mean , it is just absolutely giving them a loaded weapon and [ hoping ] they don ’ t misuse it .” 4
The message that God made you in His image on purpose and for a purpose is not the message being proclaimed on social media . Our daughters need to embody the truth of Psalm 139:14 : “ I praise you , for I am fearfully and wonderfully made . Wonderful are your works ; my soul knows it very well .” Instead , they are presented with false images of beauty that are impossible to live up to and are told they do not measure up .
Elon Musk , in a recent interview , put it this way : “ I think one of the issues with social media . . . people look like they have a much better life than they really do right , so by design people are posting pictures of when they ’ re really happy . They ’ re modifying those pictures to be better looking . Even if they ’ re not modifying the pictures , they ’ re at least selecting the pictures for the best lighting , the best angle , so people basically seem they ’ re way better looking than they basically really are , and they ’ re way happier seeming than they really are . So if you look at everyone on Instagram , you might think , ‘ Man — they ’ re all these happy , beautiful people , and I ’ m not that good-looking , and I am not happy , so I must suck ,’ you know . And that ’ s gonna make you feel sad . When , in fact , those people you think are super happy [ are ] actually not that happy . Some of them were really depressed .” 5
38 THE RENEWANATION REVIEW