It’s no secret that most teenagers are on some sort of social media website. With myriad options like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Kik, and many others, teens use these websites and apps to stay in touch with their friends. While these sites may seem harmless, teens nowadays are spending too much time on these websites, and it’s having a negative effect on their school work.

According to Paul A. Kirschner and Aryn C. Karpinski, “Students who used social networking sites while studying scored 20% lower on tests and students who used social media had an average GPA of 3.06 versus non-users who had an average GPA of 3.82.” That’s a huge gap between those two numbers, and it’s all due to the fact that teens don’t know when enough is enough with scrolling their timelines on social media websites. As the years go by, more and more websites are being created, and it’s providing even bigger distractions for students. The constant abuse of these sites is becoming a bigger issue every day.

Did you know that 40% of 8 to 18 year olds spend 54 minutes a day on social media sites? This fact was proven by Donald F. Roberts, who was one of the authors of the article “Generation M2L Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds.” That’s about an hour that can be used for studying or doing homework assignments. Besides the fact that most teens spend too much time on these sites, many of these websites have become the perfect way to cheat.

Declan McCullagh, a news reporter, conducted an investigation that involved cheating scandals on social media websites. He quotes, “Students in California, New York City, and Houston posted photos of standardized tests to social media sites, allowing students who had not yet taken the tests to see the questions (and potentially find answers) ahead of time.” That was extremely risky, because if these students were caught, their tests could possibly be voided.

All of these alarming facts should make you think twice before you click onto that Twitter app. After all, it comes down to what’s more important: making sure you’re up to date with your friends and favorite celebrities’ social lives, or getting into a good college and having a successful life. The choice is up to you.