Social media has develop into such a menace for teenagers that town health commissioner is recommending parents don’t give their children cell phones till at the very least age 14.
Pediatrians also should make talking to folks and kids about social media a part of check-ups, says Big Apple Health Commish Ashwin Vasan.
“Adolescents using social media have a greater risk of experiencing poor mental health, including symptoms of depression and anxiety,” wrote Vasan and city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Chief Medical Officer Michelle Morse in a Sept. 5 letter to doctors and other medical professionals.
“Recommend parents and caregivers delay giving children a smartphone, or similar device that may access social media, until age 14, after which reassess based on current evidence of harms and the kid’s strengths and desires,” the missive said.
“When children begin to travel more independently in NYC, ask parents to begin children with a phone that doesn’t have the power to access social media,” the department’s docs added.
Pediatricians also should discuss the perils of over exposure to smart phones and social media with parents and their children as a part of a “family media plan” to curb or prohibit use, in keeping with the letter.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is pushing for a ban on smart phones in schools and currently conducting a “listening tour” to see how it could actually be done.
She and the state legislature approved a law in June to present parents more control over social media usage on apps reminiscent of TikTok and Instagram.
The town’s top doctors, of their letter, cited statistics indicating local youths are more depressed than a decade ago and suggesting social media addiction may very well be a wrongdoer.
In 2021, 38% of city high schoolers felt so sad or hopeless throughout the previous yr that they stopped engaging of their usual activities, compared with 27% in 2011, in keeping with town’s youth risk-behavior survey.
Preoccupation with dying — suicidal ideation — increased by greater than 34% amongst this group from 2011 to 2021, the survey found.
Social-media use has develop into commonplace amongst many individuals: 54% of youngsters, 93% of teenagers, and 78% of fogeys use some type of social media, the Health Department said, citing its own special report on social media.
Children who use social media experience higher rates of tension (16%) than children who don’t (12%).
Teenagers who use social media experience anxiety (27%) and depression (14%) at higher rates than teenagers who don’t (9% and 4%, respectively), too.
Many adults are more stressed after repeated checks of their smart phone, a recent University of Michigan study revealed.
Some adults aren’t good role models — and even inconsiderate — while absorbed scrolling on their phone.
A Post reporter at a gym in Queens on Saturday saw three customers sitting on their seats in a row of exercise weight machines, with their heads down watching their smart phone and scrolling through information, slowing down the workout regimen.
The highest city doctors urged their colleagues to share resources with patients reminiscent of town Department of Education’s Digital Citizenship Curriculum for college students in grades K to 12; the Health Department’s NYC Teenspace mental health support program for college students ages 13 to 17, and the health agency’s guide to folks, “Social Media and Youth Mental Health.”
Social media has develop into such a menace for teenagers that town health commissioner is recommending parents don’t give their children cell phones till at the very least age 14.
Pediatrians also should make talking to folks and kids about social media a part of check-ups, says Big Apple Health Commish Ashwin Vasan.
“Adolescents using social media have a greater risk of experiencing poor mental health, including symptoms of depression and anxiety,” wrote Vasan and city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Chief Medical Officer Michelle Morse in a Sept. 5 letter to doctors and other medical professionals.
“Recommend parents and caregivers delay giving children a smartphone, or similar device that may access social media, until age 14, after which reassess based on current evidence of harms and the kid’s strengths and desires,” the missive said.
“When children begin to travel more independently in NYC, ask parents to begin children with a phone that doesn’t have the power to access social media,” the department’s docs added.
Pediatricians also should discuss the perils of over exposure to smart phones and social media with parents and their children as a part of a “family media plan” to curb or prohibit use, in keeping with the letter.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is pushing for a ban on smart phones in schools and currently conducting a “listening tour” to see how it could actually be done.
She and the state legislature approved a law in June to present parents more control over social media usage on apps reminiscent of TikTok and Instagram.
The town’s top doctors, of their letter, cited statistics indicating local youths are more depressed than a decade ago and suggesting social media addiction may very well be a wrongdoer.
In 2021, 38% of city high schoolers felt so sad or hopeless throughout the previous yr that they stopped engaging of their usual activities, compared with 27% in 2011, in keeping with town’s youth risk-behavior survey.
Preoccupation with dying — suicidal ideation — increased by greater than 34% amongst this group from 2011 to 2021, the survey found.
Social-media use has develop into commonplace amongst many individuals: 54% of youngsters, 93% of teenagers, and 78% of fogeys use some type of social media, the Health Department said, citing its own special report on social media.
Children who use social media experience higher rates of tension (16%) than children who don’t (12%).
Teenagers who use social media experience anxiety (27%) and depression (14%) at higher rates than teenagers who don’t (9% and 4%, respectively), too.
Many adults are more stressed after repeated checks of their smart phone, a recent University of Michigan study revealed.
Some adults aren’t good role models — and even inconsiderate — while absorbed scrolling on their phone.
A Post reporter at a gym in Queens on Saturday saw three customers sitting on their seats in a row of exercise weight machines, with their heads down watching their smart phone and scrolling through information, slowing down the workout regimen.
The highest city doctors urged their colleagues to share resources with patients reminiscent of town Department of Education’s Digital Citizenship Curriculum for college students in grades K to 12; the Health Department’s NYC Teenspace mental health support program for college students ages 13 to 17, and the health agency’s guide to folks, “Social Media and Youth Mental Health.”
