Ladue-Frontenac Patch Teen Peer Panel Sounds Off

Rebecca "Becky" Antony, freshman at MICDS led off our line of questioning. Becky wanted to know if there is true value to all forms of social media including Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and the rest, or is it just a total waste of time.

Naturally, our panel members from area schools had some varied opinions.

Cate Toman of St. Joseph's Academy

I think Social Networking is advantageous as a networking tool, but I also believe that it is a "time-suck" for many teens and its use should be limited.

Curtis Walls from Ladue

I believe social media can be a distraction for numerous students and adults too. However, social media websites like twitter and facebook can be beneficial. I sometimes use it to discuss homework problems with my friends, and our school uses facebook for almost every club and organization so every member knows what events are coming up.

Tori Watson, Villa Duchesne

While social media does help the spread of news and brand names, it has not proved itself to be such a bane for teens. On a school night, these websites become vortexes for the dissipated attention spans of high schoolers. Five minutes becomes two hours, two hours becomes an unproductive evening, which in turn becomes a late night scrambling to finish assignments that could’ve all been completed if the mouses of tempted teens had not benignly clicked “login”. Social media is a tool that has good intentions, but teens just have to learn how to use it in moderation.

Molly Soto, St. Joseph's Academy

I think there are definitely benefits to social media sites in addition to being enjoyable to the users. Social media is very beneficial for businesses. Facebook is a great way for companies to build their brand and raise awareness of their product because of the millions of individuals who use these sites. Businesses can acquire feedback of their products and engage with customers through social media sites. I also think facebook is a great way to reconnects with family and friends who might live in another state or even another country. Social media sites, such as LinkedIn, can be beneficial by displaying a resume and advertizing job options.     

Sarah Allen, Ladue

I think social media allows us to be more aware about what goes on in our friends' lives. But I also think it encourages meaningless communication.

Spencer Desai, MICDS

While I do understand why people think social networking sites, especially Facebook are "time suckers" I respectfully disagree. My friends and I get along very well and we like to talk outside of school and with all of our vastly different schedules, it is very hard to communicate outside of school during the weekdays. Facebook and Twitter help me connect with friends from other grades and schools as well.

While there are a very select few who get so sucked in to Facebook and Twitter that they can't get any work done, this is a very small portion of teens compared to the others who have enough self-control to simply exit out of the window.

Social networking sites are only a big distraction if we allow them to be and, sadly, the small portion of teens that don't have enough self-control gain more attention than the majority that can exit out of Facebook at the appropriate time.

Meanwhile, Scott Peterson maintains a national website to get youth and adults involved. Check it out.

We will continue to add comments from our Patch Peer Panel members as they come in. Watch for the next round of questions coming soon.