The effects of social media on young people

Free

60-90 min

Speaking

Intermediate

Overview

In this conversation lesson, students will examine the impact of social media on mental health. Focusing on teenagers and young adults, they'll explore social media's positive and negative effects, discuss its role in shaping emotions and behaviours, and learn relevant vocabulary (e.g., addiction, algorithm, privacy concerns).

The lesson centres around a thought-provoking video that examines both the challenges and opportunities of social media in shaping emotions, behaviours, and mental well-being. Students will engage in structured and open-ended speaking activities to share opinions, analyse real-world trends, and predict future developments. They'll also participate in debates and reflect on their personal experiences with social media.

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Media & Worksheets

Lesson PDFs

e-lesson Version

Our speaking lessons follow a consistent six-stage structure: warm-up, presentation (with video, images, or reading), controlled practice, free conversation, deeper discussion, and a final homework task to introduce in class.

Lessons come with a printable student worksheet and a teacher version containing notes and answers. For online teaching, we provide an editable Google Slides e-lesson that can be downloaded or exported to PowerPoint.

The purpose of this stage is to activate your students' existing knowledge and prepare them for the lesson's theme.

Activity 1: You will lead a warm-up discussion by asking students broad questions on the topic of social media and mental health, gradually narrowing to the specific impact on young people.

Activity 2: The students will look at words associated with social media and mental health to activate vocabulary and set the context for the lesson.

The presentation material for this lesson is a video from ABC News titled “Does social media negatively impact teen mental health?”.

Activity 3: Students describe images that depict different aspects of social media use and then discuss how these might relate to mental health.

Activity 4: Students watch the video and look for specific details.

Activity 5: Students will complete five statements about the video by filling in the missing word.

To reinforce their understanding of the new language or concepts introduced in the lesson, the students will work on a couple of controlled practice activities.

Activity 6: Students have to match words or phrases related to social media to their definitions.

Activity 7: Students conduct a survey by interviewing each other about their social media habits.

We move into free practice for this stage, where the students apply the language in more open-ended, communicative activities.

Activity 8: In this activity, students will imagine they are in a difficult situation and must come up with a plan to solve the problem.

Activity 9: Students will work in groups to discuss and predict future trends related to social media and mental health.

This stage allows students to explore the lesson’s theme in more depth, tackling complex ideas and expressing their thoughts and opinions on related topics.

Activity 10: Students will discuss their opinions on controversial statements about social media and mental health.

Activity 11: In this activity, students will take turns speaking for as long as possible about a topic related to the lesson’s theme.

Finally, we'll encourage students to extend their learning outside of the classroom to reinforce the language and concepts covered during the lesson.

Homework task: Students will write a short reflection essay on their personal experiences and opinions about social media and its impact on mental health.