THE @THEHURONEMERY
HURON EMERY HURON HIGH SCHOOL, 2727 FULLER RD., ANN ARBOR MI 48105
APR 2026 VOL. 11, ISSUE 5
The comparison epidemic: the lingering effects of Instagram SALEM DINH, ISHAAN KAMAT SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, WEBSITE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
whole comparison game.” At Huron, that comparison often happens publicly. “We naturally, with human instinct, compare ourselves to posts we see,” Xu said. “For example, if we see a video of a girl who might be sharing her college acceptances, some people will naturally think, now I
On the surface, sophomore year for Huron students is spent preparing for their first AP classes or exploring new opportunities through personal projects. Beneath this, however, current junior Sarah Xu was facing struggles that many of her peers never saw. has “Last year, edia m l cia when I was a e so s eliev ve effect ter) b s n i sophomore, I was n t e e a e of t neg earch C s just going through e R (Pew a lot of mental health issues with both my relationship with my body and my family,” Xu said. “I had a lot of hospital visits, and was diagnosed with a lot of different mental illnesses.” Despite the severity of those struggles, many of her close friends did not know what she was experiencing. According to Xu, one reason is an unspoken culture of end ey sp on h t y comparison that can make e sa 45% uch tim ia conversations about mental m d e o o m t al soci esearch health feel difficult. R w (Pe enter) Mental health has long C been a pressing issue for high school students, even before the rise of Instagram and Twitter. This is seen at Huron as well, especially by counselor Caitlin Van Cleve, who helps advise the Peer-toPeer Lab. “There’s a lot of comparison going on with people that talk about their accomplishments or talk about all the things they’re doing,” Van Cleve said. “Even if a kid says to themselves, ‘oh it’s not important what that person’s doing,’ I think it still affects students a lot with the
48%
feel a need to do all these insane extracurriculars and get crazy grades to also get into the same school.” Junior Mia Siciliano sees the same thing online. “I feel I definitely watch these teenage influencers on TikTok, who kind of show, ‘Oh, hey, I’m gonna study for five hours,’ and then kind of explain all the hard classes they’re taking and all the things that
44% of pa re say social nts media is bad for tee (Pew Rese ns arch Center)
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they’re doing,” Siciliano said. “They tend to not show maybe the times when they’re stressed.” Social media also allows information about other students to spread quickly, making in-person conversations less common. “It [social media] takes away from having real interactions with people,” Van Cleve said. “You’re absorbed into the phone and just missing interactions that could have actually fed into positive communication.” Without those real interactions, comparison can grow more easily. “I hope that people will just become more vocal about their real experience on social media,” Siciliano said.
1 in 5
cial media is teens say that so ental health bad for their m Center) (Pew Research
briefs Dingell poses with students. PHOTO COURTESY OF SARAH HOFFERT
Debbie Dingell and Jason Morgan visit Huron SARAH HOFFERT STAFF WRITER
On Monday, April 13, United States representative Debbie Dingell and Michigan State Representative Jason Morgan spoke on a panel for Huron government classes. Dingell and Morgan started the panel off by talking about what their jobs entail as well as educating students on what topics they are passionate about making change on. They later opened up the conversation to questions from Huron students. Many students were worried about the recent deportations that are happening all around the country. In response, congresswoman Dingell brought up how much time and effort she puts into the current immigration policies that are being held in office. “I am somebody who tries to go to as many places as I can and hear as many voices as I can,” Dingell said. “A lot of people are scared and they need help. I’m working with [Washtenaw county groups that help the immigrant community] so I don’t hurt anybody but help people, I work very closely with law and government entities to try to protect the rights of everybody.”
GRAPHIC BY KAYLA FU AND SALEM DINH