Social media pressures kill teens in New York

By Michael Ye

Young adults and teenagers using social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube to attract attention and engage in dangerous activities such as subway surfing have caused an increase in fatal accidents in 2023, according to several media outlets.

A recent Daily News article claimed that some teens involved in reckless endangerment may also be involved in gang-related incidents, putting other commuters in the crossfire.

• In the first six months of 2023, there were four teenage deaths related to subway navigation, compared to 5 total deaths between 2018 and 2022. Subway navigation increased significantly, from more than 200 cases in 2021 to more than 900 cases in 2022.
• Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murphy said social media can seriously harm the mental health of children and adolescents.
• According to a 2022 New York Post article, there has been an increase in teen gun violence in New York.

Rudy Garnier, 53, a business major at York College, said: “It's because of boredom, excitement-seeking, thrill-seeking. I think they are young and don't care about the consequences.

An NPR report referenced a YouTube video showing a group of teenagers making noise on top of a moving 7 train when one of the boys, whose name is Rey, nearly fell into the tracks, and he heard of another boy who fell and died. .

Sociology professor Jacob Apkarian of York College said: “I think YouTube or Instagram or Facebook are responsible for a lot of different trends, like the ice water challenge from five years ago. And there are all these different types of things, and some of them may be harmless, but others may be more dangerous.

In response to the 14-year-old boy's death while subway surfing in Brooklyn in June, Mayor Eric Adams called on social media platforms to ban videos regarding the dangerous trend. TikTok was reported to have said that the trend started before social media and that security professionals were working to remove harmful content.

A recent New York Times article reported that Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murphy said social media can harm the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. He further urged tech companies to impose minimum age limits on social media, set age-based default settings, and recommended families come together more for dialogue and bonding.

Brian Hu, 20, a finance student at York College, said: “They should just use it to communicate with each other instead of making everything a competition to see who is the most popular.” » Asked about navigating the subway, Hu called it “really stupid” and said people should not risk their lives for attention on social media.

Teen gun violence

In addition to subway surfing, teenagers join gangs to feel safe in New York, and occasionally rival gangs cross paths on the subway, leading to gun violence. According to a Daily News report, a 16-year-old was involved in a subway shooting on the Mt. Eden subway station platform and killed a 35-year-old man, an innocent bystander, who was shot. in the chest during an exchange of gunfire between a 14-year-old rival gang member.

“One of the major trends in recent criminal justice reform is toward a restorative, less punitive justice approach,” Apkarian said. “The argument is that it doesn't seem to work if you try to punish people, especially young people. We therefore need to adopt a different approach.

“There is a sociological theory of crime called labeling theory, which states that once they see themselves as problematic to society, they simply come to understand themselves as they are, which I cannot change, and they will look into this kind of criminal activity even more.

A solution to the problem

Many experts suggest that parents can help their children reduce their social media use by promoting boundaries and forming good habits. Physical activity and in-person conversations are a few examples recommended in the article for teens and parents.

“There are programs that provide social services that keep them active and programs that have been successful in instituting night basketball leagues in the toughest neighborhoods, and that has been shown to reduce crime among young people in these neighborhoods,” Apkarian said.