Social Media

English as a Second Language (ESL)

The digital landscape has put increased pressure on teenagers today, and we feel it. There are so many social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, you name it. I made a conscious decision to avoid Snapchat and Instagram because of the social pressure I saw them putting on my 14-year-old little sister. If my mum turned off the WiFi at 11pm, my sister would beg me to turn my phone into a hotspot1. She always needed to load her Snapchat stories one more time, or to reply to a message that had come in two minutes ago because she didn’t want her friend to feel ignored. If I refused, saying she could respond in the morning, I’d get the “You’re ruining my social life” speech. Even as a teenager as well, I sometimes find this craze a little baffling.

A new study has found that teenagers who engage with social media during the night could be damaging their sleep and increasing their risk of anxiety and depression. Teenagers spoke about the pressure they felt to make themselves available 24/7 and the resulting anxiety if they did not respond immediately to texts or posts. Teens are so emotionally invested in social media that a fifth of secondary school pupils will wake up at night and log on just to make sure they don’t miss out. Perhaps the worst thing about this is that teenagers need more sleep than adults do, so night-time social media use could be detrimental to their health. A lack of sleep can make teenagers tired, irritable, and depressed.

During the summer holidays, I lost my phone. And for the week that I was phoneless, it felt like a disaster. I love my phone. It gives me quick access to information and allows me to be constantly looped in with my friends, to know exactly what is going on in their lives. So when I didn’t have my phone for a week, I felt a slight sense of FOMO, or if you’re not up to speed with the lingo, fear of missing out. By the end of the week, I’d got used to not having a phone and I’d quite enjoyed the break from social media. But there was still a lingering sense of sadness at the back of my mind that there would be conversations I had missed, messages that had been sent, funny videos shared and night-time chats that I would probably never get to see.

Simple Past Tense Verbs Reg & Irregular

Writing

Write the simple PAST tense of the verbs in parentheses.

 

1. Bianca and her friends ______ (plan) to have a picnic but the weather was bad, and they had to cancel.

2. One of the older ladies __________ (trip) and ______ (fall) because there were many rocks and pebbles on the path.

3. Do you know where my group ____ (go)? I _____ (lose) them in the crowd.

4. Although the dancing squad _________ (practice) for weeks, they did not come in first place in the competition.

5. Every day I put my cell phone away in class. Yesterday, I _______ (leave) it there because I _________ (forget) to take it with me.

6. My best friend and I ______ (argued) yesterday. She _____ (hurt) my feelings because she ____ (say) mean things about me.

7. After we _____ (calm) down and _____ (talk), she ________ (apologize) and we _________ (become) friends again.

8. My Dad _________ (want) to buy something very special for my mother on their anniversary. He ________ (save) money in order to buy it.

9. When he saw the bracelet on sale, he __________ (order) it and ________ (buy) it.

10. The guys _______(be) disappointed that their team did not win the game. They ______ (spend) a lot of money on the tickets and _____ (drive) a long way to get there.

11. You ___________ (visit) your uncle and aunt in Tennessee, didn't you? I ____ (try) to call you, but my calls were not going through.

12. He ______ (tell) you how to build the doghouse and it appears that you ___________ (listen) well because it looks very sturdy.

13. If you ____ (have) another chance to past the test, you should have ______ (study) hard to get a better grade.

14. We ____ (use) all of the supplies at the campsite. When we ____ (run) out of everything, we _____ (have) to go to the store.

15. At the park, we ______ (drink) a lot of water, because it ___ (is) very hot. We also ____ (feed) bread to the ducks at the lake.

16. At the end of the day, I ____ (feel) tired, so I _____ (take) my vitamins and ___ (go) to bed.

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