I was sitting in the car with my mom and driving to a softball tournament when she told me to put my phone away and stop playing games. I had been texting my best friend and as I told her this, I realized something.

When parents yell at their kids for being on their phones all the time, most of those times kids are talking to their friends on some social media platform, and it’s like this because we don’t have time or ways to see our friends as often. As parents get more protective, more social media platforms flourish because its a way for kids to let their friends into their lives whether it be with six second videos or a photo that they took on vacation. As kids get ore separated, since they’re not with their friends, they become more addicted to social media because its a way for them to interact with their friends.

While parents think the problem is the social media, the problem is mostly the parents not allowing them to go places or not helping them find rides to get to places. It’s the social media that is creating a space for the kids to spend time with their friends.

Every social media platform has a different purpose, one to just have a conversation with and others to share common interests. There's hundreds of platforms to share stories on, the same way someone could do in real life, but this way kids aren't scrambling with sibling and parent schedules to find a ride. Each platform fills different needs for different kids, bringing them closer to what they love, whether it be writing or their friends.

Being on social media is not always the best pass time, but think about how much time was spent when kids went on planned play dates with their friends, which their parents arranged. Kids would spend hours together and social media allows them to have those hours of fun. To think about it in a parent's perspective, as a teen, is difficult, but think about all that time that kids used to spend playing. In the few hours, or even minutes, that are left between homework and chores, kids should have freedom of hanging out with friends, even if it means looking at a screen.

By not allowing kids to go on their phones, it takes away from the time they could be socializing and creating bonds that they don't have time to create. Social media isn't a force to fight against, it's something for kids to relish when they want to talk to their friends or enjoy a little bit of what they've been dutifully ignoring as they go about their lives outside of social media.