Youth in the USA
youth of today have more power than ever in shaping America’s pop culture. Many young people use soci - al media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter in order to both discuss and shape pop culture, while also discussing social justice issues that they care about. Young people with large followings can gain sponsor - ships from brands and many young people use this as an opportunity to highlight social justice issues that are important to them. While there are benefits to this, including being able to stay connected to friends, sharing art or other work, pro - moting social justice activism, and self-expression, there are also many negative mental health effects of social media. Social media has been a place where some young people have experienced cyber-bullying from peers at school or have been exposed to harmful and violent content. There are also privacy concerns and concerns around others obtaining their personal information. Overall, there are mixed opinions among young people regarding whether social media has a positive, neutral, or negative effect on their lives. their peers on racial, economic, gender and environmental justice, as well as organize protests or other forms of activism. Mental Health Mental health and the many challenges associated have been a leading cause of disability and poor life outcomes for young people in the United States, with up to one in
five children ages three to seventeen in the U.S. having a mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral disor - der. Additionally, from 2009 to 2019, the share of youth in U.S. high schools who reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness was reported to be about one in three students. Mental health challenges in children, adolescents, and young adults are real and widespread. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic began, an increa - sing amount of young people struggled with feelings of helplessness, depression, and thoughts of suicide — and these rates have steadily grown over the past decade. This can be attributed to social media use, bullying in schools, eating disorders and body image issues, discri - mination-based trauma and more. In December of 2021, the United States surgeon general issued an advisory about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health for youth due to how much it has altered their ex - periences and habits at home, school, and socially. This is particularly true for demographics of youth who were already vulnerable, including youth with disabilities, eth - nic and racial minorities, LGBTQIA+ youth, low-income youth, youth in immigrant households, along with youth in the juvenile justice system. However, despite the in - crease of mental health challenges, young people in the current generation have been much more open about these challenges among their peers and mental health issues have increasingly become less taboo. Social me - dia has become a way to share tools for managing men - tal health issues and promoting lifestyle changes that can help young people with these issues.
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