Teens and their Social Media Lives

GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School

COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Speaking & Listening, Language

SEL STANDARDS*: Self Awareness, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, Responsible Decision-Making

In December 2023, the Pew Research Center published results of a national survey about teens and their social media use. The survey addresses top social media platforms among teens, how often young people visit specific social media platforms, the ways in which gender, race, age and household income (socioeconomic status) are differentiated among platforms and time spent on these platforms. Pew says in the report, “Despite negative headlines and growing concerns about social media’s impact on youth, teens continue to use these platforms at high rates – with some describing their social media use as ‘almost constant.”

This lesson provides an opportunity for students to reflect on their own social media use, compare that information with the data in the Pew Research Center survey, consider their responses and ideas based on the results and explore how race, gender and socioeconomic status impact online use.     

Learning Objectives: 

• Students will reflect on their own social media use and analyze their findings as a class or school.  

• Students will examine the results of the 2023 Pew Research Center survey on teens and social media and compare those results to their class or school results.   

• Students will consider how teens use of social media differs based on gender, race and socioeconomic status. 

• Students will explore their thoughts and feelings about the data they learn about.

* Based on CASEL's SEL Framework