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Karen Borglund

How TikTok Could Destroy Your Childhood

TikTok? Teens love it. Trust me, most teens are guilty of spending several hours on it a day without even realizing it. TikTok is a Chinese owned social media app that is a source of fame for several thousand teenagers in the world. Users can share short videos of anything they desire, ranging from music to comedy. There are over 1 billion globally active users, and the popularity of this app increases every day.


It’s addictive and is a perfect way to spend time when you are bored, but today I’m going to explain how this simple app could keep you away from academic success and reaching your goals.


Now, to put this in perspective, I will list a couple Pros and Cons of TikTok’s effect on teens.


Pros:


Entertainment


TikTok is a great place to go for wholesome, free entertainment. The app consists of people (sometimes not even people) dancing, doing skits, pranks, and so much more. Just by simply scrolling on your screen, you can see are millions of creative, short videos lying in front of you. Bored? The first thing to do is open TikTok. It never gets boring!


Publicity


Many teens dream to be “TikTok famous”. TikTok is a great platform to get publicity. There is no need to have a special set of skills to get fame – the app will do it for you with its special video effects and filters. Furthermore, there are many ways for you to earn money on TikTok. Varying from brand partnerships to cross-promotion, there are great ways that you will be able to earn money through your TikTok fame!


Creativity


TikTok will boost your creativity. There are so many video ideas that have been originally made by teens! By brainstorming original and unique video ideas, you will be able to enhance your creative side and express yourself.


Cons:


Distraction


TikTok can definitely become one of the major distractions that keep you away from doing homework, extracurriculars, and sleep. TikTok is an endless scroll of videos, therefore it is difficult to keep track of how long you have been on the app.


Waste of Time


This app is a complete time waster. It may be useful when you have a lot of time and nothing to do. But it can easily be addicting and consume hours of your day without knowing it. The time taken to watch/create TikTok videos can be put into much better use doing things that are more advantageous for us in the future, such as studying or sports.


Nuisance


TikTok has slowly progressed to be an essential part of teens’ lives. Teens will frequently pull out their phones during unnecessary occasions to film TikTok videos, causing the people around them to get irritated and easily annoyed.


So what?

Despite the few advantages of this app, overall, I believe that it has an extremely negative effect on teenagers. The distraction of having a time-consuming, addictive app will prevent teenagers from living a fulfilling childhood and could keep them away from reaching their goals.


Deleting this app from your phone could be very difficult. Instead of completely cutting yourself out of it, you can take into consideration a few options.


First, you need to know your priorities. Academics, extracurriculars, and spending time with your family should be a few of the many priorities you have. Make sure you prioritize these important aspects of your life.


Adding on to that, you can set up a limit to how long you can use the app for on your phone. To prevent yourself from long TikTok marathons, you can simply go into your Settings app and limit yourself on how long you would be able to use the app.


TikTok is not a horrible app, but by understanding that the extreme amounts of time spent on this app could affect your life in negative ways, you will be able to change your lifestyle and manage to reach your goals.


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