How social media has poisoned our next generation

A New study by the British government has discovered the mental well-being of the country'steenage girls has deteriorated.

英国政府最近的一项研究发现，英国青春期女孩的心理健康已经严重恶化。

The survey, which included 30,000 14-year-old students in 2005 and 2014, showed 37 percentof girls with psychological stress, up from 34 percent in 2005. British boys' stress level wasactually seen to fall over the same time period, from 17 percent to 15 percent.

该调查分别调查了2005年和2014年的总计3万名14岁学生，结果显示，37%的女生存在心理压力，比2005年的34%上升了3个点。英国男孩的压力水平在同期实际上降低了，从17%降到15%。

The report’s authors pointed out the “advent of the social media age” could be a majorcontributing factor for increased stress among teenage British girls.

报告的作者指出“社交媒体时代的到来”可能是导致英国青春期女孩压力水平剧增的主要因素。

“The adolescent years are a time of rapid physical, cognitive and emotional development,”Pam Ramsden, a lecturer in psychology at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom,wrote in a recent blog post. “Teenagers interact with people in order to learn how to becomecompetent adults.

“青春期是一个充满了身体、认知和情绪发展的时期，”布拉德福德大学心理学讲师帕姆·拉姆斯登在最近的博客中写道。“青少年跟周围的人产生互动，从学会如何成为合格的大人。

In the past, they would engage with parents, teachers and other adults in their community aswell as extended family members and friends. Now we can also add social media to that list ofsocial and emotional development.”

在过去，他们会跟父母，老师，社区里的其他大人以及亲戚朋友交流。现在，社会与情绪发展清单中又多了一项社交媒体。”

Throughout adolescence, girls and boys develop characteristics like confidence and self-control. Since teenage brains have not completely developed, teens don't have the cognitiveawareness and impulse control to keep from posting inappropriate content.

贯穿整个青春期，女孩和男孩会发展出自信和自律这样的品质。因为青少年的大脑还没有完全发育，他们尚不具备足够的认知觉知和冲动控制水平，从而很容易在网上发布不适当的内容。

Furthermore, this content can easily be circulated far and wide with disastrous implications.

更重要的是，这些内容会很容易广为传播，并产生严重的影响。

Social media can also feed into girls’ insecurities about their appearance, Ramsden said. Thesesites are often filled with images of people with body type unattainable to the normal person.However, these images and the messages tied to them creep into societal standards.

社交媒体同样会加剧女孩们对外表的不安全感，拉姆斯登说。网络上充斥着各种完美身材的照片，而一般人很难拥有这样的身材。然而，这些照片和其中传递的信息却在不断渗入到社会标准中。