Question

read the claim.
the overuse of social media has led to a decline in the academic performance of this country’s high school students.
which reasons are logically sound and could be used to support the claim? select two options.
□ high school students are spending more time on social media than they are studying and completing homework.
□ grades at a specific high school are worse this year than they were 20 years ago, when social media was not a distraction.
□ social media is causing many problems in society, including a lack of attention and a more negative attitude toward education among students in my neighborhood.
□ you can read several articles about students around the country causing problems at school rather than focusing on academics.
□ standardized test scores dropped or remained stagnant in many states in 2017, which was the peak year to date for social media use.

Explanation:

1. For the option "High school students are spending more time on social media than they are studying and completing homework": If students spend more time on social media than on studying/homework, it logically follows that their academic performance could decline due to less time devoted to academic tasks.
2. For the option "Standardized test scores dropped or remained stagnant in many states in 2017, which was the peak year to date for social media use": Linking the peak of social media use with a drop in standardized test scores (a measure of academic performance) provides a correlation that supports the claim that overuse of social media led to a decline in academic performance.

The other options have issues: The "specific high school" option is too narrow and doesn't necessarily link to social media overuse (other factors could have changed in 20 years). The "neighborhood students" option is anecdotal and about general problems not directly tied to academic performance decline. The "articles about problems at school" option doesn't link the problems to social media overuse or academic performance decline.

Answer:

A. High school students are spending more time on social media than they are studying and completing homework
E. Standardized test scores dropped or remained stagnant in many states in 2017, which was the peak year to date for social media use