Being a teenager is hard; there are constant social and emotional pressures that have just been introduced into the life of a middle or high schooler, which combines with puberty to create a ticking time bomb. By looking at the constant exposure to unreasonable expectations smartphones and social media create, we can see that smartphones are leading to an increased level of depression and anxiety in teenagers, an important issue because we need to find a safe way to use smartphones for the furture generations that are growing up with them. Social media is a large part of a majority of young adults life, whether it includes Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, or some combination of these platforms, most kids have some sort of presence online. Sites like Facebook and Instagram provide friends with a snapshot of an event that happened in your life, and people tend to share the positive events online, but this creates a dangerous impact on the person scrolling.​ When teens spend hours scrolling through excluisvely happy posts, it creates an unrealistic expectation for how real life should be. Without context, teenagers often feel as if their own life is not measuring up to all of their happy friends, but real-life will never measure up to the perfect ones expressed online. Picture Picture Furthermore, social media sites create a way for teenagers to seek external validation from likes and comments, but when the reactions online are not perceived as enough it dramatically alters a young adults self-confidence. This leads to the issue of cyberbullying. There are no restrictions on what you can say online, sometimes even annonimously, so often people choose to send negative messages online. Bullying is not a new concept, but with online bullying, there is little to no escape as a smartphone can be with a teenager everywhere, and wherever the smartphone goes the bullying follows.This makes cyberbullying a very effective way to decrease a youth's mental health, in fact, cyberbullying triples the risk of suicide in adolescents, which is already the third leading cause of death for this age group.

​Technology is in constant motion. If we try to ignore the advances being made the world will move forward without us. Instead of trying to escape change, there needs to be an effort to incorporate technology into every aspect of our lives in the most beneficial way possible. If we look at the ways technology can improve our lives, we can see that technology specifically smartphones, have brought more benefits than harm to the academic and social aspects of teenagers lives, which is important because there is a constant pressure to move away from smart devices from older generations. The first aspect people tend to focus on is the effect that technology has on the academic life of a teen. Smartphones and other smart devices are a crucial part of interactive learning in a classroom and can be used as a tool in increasing student interest in a topic. For example, a popular interactive website, Kahoot, is used in many classrooms because it forces students to participate in the online quiz, while teachers can gauge how their students are doing in the class. Furthermore, these interactive tools are crucial for students that thrive under visual learning, since they can directly interact with the material. This can be extended to students with learning disabilities, such as Down Syndrome and Autism,​ research has shown that using specialized and interactive apps on a smart device aids learning more effectively than technology free learning. Picture Picture Another fear regarding technology is the impact it has on the social lives of young adults, but the benefits technology has brought to socializing outweighs any possible consequences. The obvious advantage smartphones have brought to social lives is the ability to easily communicate with people; with social media, texting, and calling all in one portable box there is no longer a struggle to be in contact with family and friends even if they are not in your area. Social media can also be used for much more In recent years, social media has been a key platform in spreading platforms and movements for social change. Because social media websites lower the barrier for communicating to large groups of people, it has been much easier to spread ideas of change across states, countries, or the world. For example, after Hurricane Sandy tore apart the northeastern United States, a movement called "Occupy Sandy" in which people gathered to provide relief for the areas affected was promoted and organized through social media. Other movements that have been possible because of social media include #MeToo, March for Our Lives, #BlackLivesMatter, and the 2017 Women's March. ​

There is no question that technology is becoming a part of our lives more every day. What we have to take a closer look at is the increasing dependency that children have on smart devices, which is taking over all other normal childhood activities, an important occurrence because it is interfering with normal childhood development and negatively impacting relationships between parents and children. Smartphones give young adults access to almost unlimited information and almost unlimited content that they may not yet be equipped to navigate. Every parent wants to know what is going on in their child's life, but with smartphones, this is highly suggested just to make sure the internet has not led them down a dark path. For example, an astonishing study found that 19% of young adults ages 13-19 sent sexually suggestive content online, and 31% had received this type of content. Smartphones make exposure to these things at an early age much easier, and preventing the exposure much harder. There are many restrictions and blocks that can be put in place to help guide children in the right parts of the internet, but there is still the issue of time management on devices. Smartphones and other smart devides have taken the place of activities that should be prioitized for a healthy lifestyle, such as homework and exercise. One aspect that has drawn many children into overuse of technology is online gaming. Online games often have interactions with other online players, which allows children to feel as if they are socializing without actually interacting with friends, especially for children who struggle with in person interaction.

​While this may be beneficial for short term socializing or motor skills, in the long-run, the children are choosing to sit and stare at a screen instead of interacting with people around them, or doing productive things such as homework, so the short-term benefits are outweighed by long-term consequences.

The music we listen to highly impacts our decision making, especially as adolescents. Adolescents are extremely impressionable, and the music they listen to has a great impact on how they decide to live their day to day lives. Popular musicians are seen as role models by the people who idolize them, and adolescents may try to represents the songs in which they favor through their actions every day.

Recent studies have found that adolescents who listen to music that supports substance abuse and violence have a greater chance to act upon what they listen to. What young adults and teenagers listen to through music and popular media will affect their decision making process. Specifically with substance abuse, and there is a direct uptake in use of illegal substances by adolescents who listen to music that promotes such activities. This can cause a whole societal problem considering most of todays popular music among adolescents touches upon substance abuse and violence. Adolescents are extremely impressionable and the music they listen can shape how a person tries to act, or represent themselves.

Our culture is defined by the music we listen to, and the way it is portrayed in the media. Every culture around the world has a different style of song or dance that represents their traditions. Culture can not only be changed through popular songs, but is best represented through music. One of the best ways to understand a foreign culture is by listening to the music that is favorable among the people whose culture you are trying to understand. Music is one of the most powerful forms of art between cultures.

Music has the power to redefine cultures. We can see this through generational differences between song preferences. For example, American country music back in the late 1900s has a much different feel and style compared to country music now in 2019. While keeping within the same genre, this style of music touches upon different subjects, and uses different instruments, sounds and lyrics. Even early hip-hop has evolved from its beginnings. Hip-hop music is considered the most popular music as of right now, but it has not always been that way. Each generation favors different types of genres of music, and it is clear which backgrounds over the years have favored certain genres of music. As much as music can differentiate cultures, and generations, music can bring people of completely different background together by its artistic flavor and general popularity throughout the mainstream media.

Music and the media directly impact the way we view sports, and the way we prepare for our games. Sports depend on music and the media for inspiration, and something to be connected to. Not only can we use music to get us ready for a big game, or a long practice, but we can use the songs we listen to, to connect us to the atmosphere in which we like to play our sports in. The entire world of sports revolves heavily around music, especially the way in which our sports are portrayed in the media. Every season professional sports and the NCAA included will use a popular song in one of their commercials to give you something to tie that sport to when you hear that song. This method of familiarizing the game to a song helps viewers always connect the two when either watching a game, or listening to a song.

​Not only can we connect our sports to songs, but we prepare for our games with music. Music can influence the way we feel as stated previously in the about section. This can be a powerful effect for pre and post game activities. For people who are unfamiliar with being in a locker room atmosphere, nothing can bring a team closer together than a song that is consistently played before or after games. Teams will usually have a few songs that have significant value to every player and become part of the teams ritual. When you have a song, or multiple songs that bring you together as a team this can significantly increase the feeling you of joy you have during wins, or loses with your teammates. Music is one of the most important ways to artistically articulate the world of sports.