In every Suncoast student’s life, priorities become more prominent as the school year passes by. Besides community service hours, studying and homework, and spending time with friends, social media is a time consumer for all students. It has become the first thing on everyone’s mind. However, as the school year passes by, prioritizing is a necessity. Students always want to Snapchat what they got for lunch, upload to Facebook which colleges accepted them, or tweet something funny for retweets and favorites. The media has become such a hinderance to see what the world has to offer, which is why senior Madison Rossow has given it up for 21 days.
Fasting social media is definitely a challenge for most teenagers, but Rossow is up for the test. “I gave it up because my church does this fasting and prayer for 21 days, and we give up something so we can find what we are searching for within ourselves. I tried to do food last year, but that didn’t work,” Rossow said. By pushing her most used social media accounts — Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat — to the side, Rossow is able to finish all her homework without procrastinating.
Besides the fact that social media is time consuming, there is more to life than the likes. Rossow said that she is “truly praying for the path she will choose in life” and without social media, perhaps she will find her way. While the media can be a distraction for some teenagers, Dr. Kevin Campbell argued on Forbes that “social media is the future, because it allows my patients to blog and express their opinions and experiences from their life. They can also communicate with my doctor colleagues, nurses, the hospital and I.” Dr. Campbell’s implications are that the media is fine to use, but should not be a necessity.
As the days go on until the finish line, Rossow feels the improvement of her character developing. Rossow said, “Every morning when I wake up, I usually check Snapchat or Instagram. It’s teaching me how to get things done. I want to be able to achieve my goal and tell people I did it. I think I will be able to finish this goal.” Three weeks can feel like three years for this fasting, but as Rossow shows, any goal can be accomplished so long as you are motivated and strive.
