Beyond the Screen: What Social Media Taught Me by Nathan

Beyond the Screen: What Social Media Taught Me by Nathan - October 2026 Scholarship Essay

How much does social media actually affect the lives of teenagers? It was something I never truly thought about, although I spent hours on it myself! Like other teenagers, I found social media completely harmless and viewed it as a simple way to talk to my friends and have fun. However, that changed when my DECA partner and I started researching for our project, The Social Shift.
Our project focused on educating middle and high school students about the negative effects of social media use. Originally, I thought too much screen time was the only problem with social media. However, while we did more and more research, we noticed that the issue was way more complicated than that. Social media could negatively affect students' self-esteem, attention spans, and sleeping habits if not monitored properly.
One of the most interesting parts of our project was diving into the relationship between mental health and how people use social media. My partner and I wondered why something that was supposed to connect us to everything made teenagers feel more isolated than ever. Through our research, I learned that social media itself wasn't exactly a problem. Rather, it was how they consumed it.
Instead of simply presenting statistics to teach teenagers, we wanted to understand how students in our community viewed social media first. We developed surveys to help create awareness of social media usage and created educational materials to help encourage better digital habits. Through posters, brochures, and presentations, we made content more relatable to people our age.
Something that surprised me is how differently I viewed social media afterward. When starting research, I just accepted information willingly from websites. However, in the process of researching, I realized that research isn't just about finding answers but learning from the process along the way.
Our project eventually earned recognition as a 2026 DECA district champion and state finalist, but that wasn’t the most valuable part. In my opinion, it was how curiosity could develop into real action by just a 17-year-old.
The Social Shift taught me that researching doesn’t just have to stay in a classroom. Simple research can blossom into helping the community. With my new 2027 DECA project, I plan to teach my San Antonio community the importance of first aid and CPR knowledge. As I work toward my future goal of becoming a physician, I hope to continue using curiosity and research to help save and improve the lives of others.