As school is winding down for the year, all that is on everyone’s minds is their summer plans. Vacations they may be going on, hanging out with friends and having time to relax. Spending much needed time away from the stress of homework and tests. But is summer truly a stress free time?
Starting with the idea that your summer must be absolutely perfect, that is simply never going to happen. The more everyone strives for what they feel to be a “perfect summer” the more stressful it all becomes. Why do we as humans feel the need to have the most picture perfect summers to share with the world? Why do we let the pressure of it all affect our mental health? It can be described by the term “Social Pressure.” According to the American Psychology Association, social pressure is the influence on a person or group by another person or group. The influence of others or companies cause stress levels to heighten when it becomes summer due to influencers posting pictures to their social media.
Social media has become such a staple in the lives of many teens. Whether that’s simply just scrolling through Instagram or TikTok, looking at the posts of their friends and other influencers or posting your own pictures for others to see. Feeds now being filled with pictures of vacations people went on, concerts they may have attended or simply from hanging out with friends. Seeing everyone’s “picture perfect” summers adds to the social pressure teens may feel. The feeling that they too have to post exactly like what they see, that they have to look how all of the models look.
Photos are only a capture of a few seconds, made to seem like everything was perfect. They are taken to be perceived a certain way. Take beach pictures for example, always smiling, perfect tanned body in a bathing suit. Seeing these only add to the pressure that some teens may feel. Seeing those pictures adds to feeling like you may not be good enough, that you need to eat less, work out more. You need to go to a tropical location with the most perfect outfits to wear. This is now making a fun break from the stress of school, a stressful break from fear of not having the summers you see on social media.
“It can be difficult to remember the difference between what people present online and what is going on the rest of the time, and the expectations this creates for young people can be very harmful, particularly over the holiday/festival season, so that’s why we’re targeting summer with our campaign.” (ITV.Com)
The more you see online, the more damaging it can be to your mental health. The feeling of loneliness and jealousy can start to pile up. Seeing pictures of all your friends together but the invite wasn’t extended to you. Seeing the fun vacation that your friends go on, but you aren’t going on one. Only focusing on the social media perspective of summer will never help out one’s mental health. All of this adds on even more stress that is simply not necessary.
“We often notice an increase in anxiety, depression, body dissatisfaction and negative self-talk.” (Hartsteinpychilogical.com)
In an article on hartsteinpsychological.com, the medical field has found that summer causes both eating disorders and mental health symptoms to worsen. From seeing social media posts, the models and all of the advertising for diets that are pushed your way. Seeing all of these only add to the “perfect beach body” mindset, and that you have to have one for summer. The stress of taking the Pinterest worthy beach pictures but feeling like you’re too fat to even post them. The poor self image of yourself that is then created, all for pictures for people you don’t talk to, to like and keep scrolling through their feeds. The added stress that comes with social media that nobody needs. The added stress to a summer break that no one needs.
We, The Viking Views, believe that us as teens need to turn away from the overwhelming stress of social media. Don’t over analyze what you see, don’t let it affect how you enjoy your summer. When it comes time for a post on social media, if you make one, post what you want to post. Who cares if you feel like it’s not good enough, think about the memories that you made. It’s summer, it is supposed to be a break, so enjoy that break.
