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���˿��� Teach > Primary Resources > Online safety > Health, wellbeing and lifestyle

Article summary

Some students may feel like everyone else online is having a great time and doing loads of cool things.

This article gives tips and advice for students if their social media feed is making them feel low.

Everyone having fun except you?

Ever felt like everyone else online is having a great time and doing loads of cool things, and you're not?

Things aren’t always what they seem

It’s the very nature of social media for people to show the good stuff and keep the not so good stuff to themselves. Think about selfies. How many selfies do you need to take before you post one? Those terrible photos just don’t go online, do they? Unless you’re having a laugh, you post the good ones.

It’s the same with lots of the things people put online. They like to show the fun stuff like the parties, the holidays, and the outings with friends. But when they’re feeling lonely, having a lousy time, or are bored silly, they may be less likely to share. Because of this it often LOOKS like everyone is having a great time, but that’s not likely to be an accurate picture of what’s going on.

If you can, try not to compare yourself to others online.

If your social media feed is making you feel a bit down, consider these tips:

• Notice how you feel after scrolling. If the answer is 'not great' a lot of the time, consider checking your social media less often. Allow yourself plenty of breaks to get back to the real world.
• Look at your own feed, do you tend to put stuff up that doesn’t quite reflect how you really feel? Remember your friends are likely doing the same, so try not to take everything you see online too seriously.
• Offline life is fun and exciting too. Sign up for clubs, after school events, drama, or sports. The more fulfilling your offline life is, you’ll be too busy to bother that much about other people’s online lives.
• Don’t wait for people to ask you to be part of things. Organise your own stuff and invite your friends along.
• If you are feeling bad, excluded, or left out, speak to a trusted adult about it.

It’s a good idea to find an adult you can confide in and go through how you’re feeling. They’ll be able to chat you through how they deal with these kinds of feelings and keep a perspective on what’s important.

Remember, online lives are just a version of what’s happening in real life. Try paying more attention to keeping your offline life happy, and you might find you worry less what other people are saying they’re doing online.

If your students need support

You should always tell someone about the things you’re worried about. You can tell a friend, parent, guardian, teacher, or another trusted adult. If you're struggling with your mental health, going to your GP can be a good place to start to find help. Your GP can let you know what support is available to you, suggest different types of treatment and offer regular check-ups to see how you’re doing.

If you’re in need of in-the-moment support you can contact , where you can speak to a counsellor. Their lines are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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