According to a recent Harris poll, 84 percent of adults in the U.S. "worry about the effects of social media on the mental health of today's young people."
In his book The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, Jonathan Haidt argues that smartphones have negatively impacted all aspects of mental health for children.
He suggests that families prohibit smartphones before high school and social media before age 16, and encourage independent, free play; real world responsibility; and no phones in schools.
Instagram recently introduced Teen Accounts, which Instagram states "are designed to address parents' biggest concerns, including who their teens are talking to online, the content they're seeing and whether their time is being well spent."
Teen Accounts are automatically set to private and restrict sensitive content, as well as whom the user can message. They also have time-limit reminders and sleep mode.
However, some argue that Teen Accounts "lull parents into a false sense of security," because social media cannot be made safe for children.
Social media harms children by the way it is designed to keep users looking at others' seemingly perfect lives, rather than seeing their imperfections in the real world, argues Bethany Mandel, the co-author of Stolen Youth. Bethany Mandel "Instagram's new 'teen accounts' won't make social media safe for children" www.washingtonexaminer.com (Sep. 20, 2024).
Commentary
Experts are increasingly warning about the potential mental health harms to children from social media use.
A recent advisory from the surgeon general found that as many as 95 percent of children between the ages of 13 and 17 use social media, and more than one-third do so "almost constantly." In addition, nearly 40 percent of children between the ages of eight and 12 use social media, even though the minimum age to use such platforms is generally 13. "Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory [Internet]." www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
Research suggests that this heavy use of social media by teenagers and children could interfere with their development and hurt their mental health.
According to an article published by Yale Medicine, mental health problems among teenagers have been on the rise over the past decade, with growing evidence linking the issue to social medial use.
A research study found that teenagers between the ages of 12 and 15 in the U.S. who use social media more than three hours per day have twice the risk of negative mental health outcomes, including depression and anxiety.
In some cases, teen deaths have been linked to consuming suicide- and self-harm-related content on social media. Another study found that social media use may "may trigger a distorted sense of self and eating disorders," particularly among girls.
Social media use may also overstimulate the reward center in teenagers' brains, which could create pathways similar to those seen in addiction. Excessive social media use has also been connected to "sleep problems, attention problems, and feelings of exclusion in adolescents." Kathy Katella "How Social Media Affects Your Teen's Mental Health: A Parent's Guide" www.yalemedicine.org (Jun. 17, 2024).
Safe adults must be aware of the risks to mental health associated with social media use among children and teenagers; know the signs of a mental health crisis in children; and help them access mental health resources, when necessary.
