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Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, long a proponent of mental health awareness, has issued a warning that social media use is a primary contributor to depression, anxiety and other problems within the nation’s teenagers.
The report, released Tuesday, calls attention to growing concerns concerning the effects of social media use on children and adolescent’s mental health. The advisory urges policymakers and the businesses that make the social media platforms to share with parents the burden of managing kid’s and adolescents’ social media use.
Murthy calls youth mental health “the defining public health issue of our time,” urging policymakers to assist ensure strong safety standards to assist protect adolescents and youths from exposure to harmful content and excessive use.
As much as 95% of teens between the ages of 13 and 17 say they use a social media platform, in line with the report. A few third say they’re scrolling, posting or otherwise engaged with social media “almost continually.”
“At this point, we would not have enough evidence to say with confidence that social media is sufficiently protected for our children, Murthy said in an interview. “We now have to now take motion to ensure that that we’re protecting our children.”
The report pulls together research that links social media use and poor mental health in adolescents, resembling a 2019 study that found teens who spent greater than three hours a day on social media “faced double the danger of experiencing poor mental health outcomes, including symptoms of depression and anxiety.”
As of last yr, students in grades eight and 10 who were surveyed said they spent much more time every day on these platforms: three hours and half-hour, on average.
Jim Steyer, founding father of Common Sense Media, a corporation that advocates for laws and policies to make media more child-friendly, said the advisory was “absolutely spot on” and “needs to be a clarion call to each parent on this country, every policymaker, that we want to place focus and resources into this effort.”
The preferred social media platforms amongst teens are TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram, in line with the Pew Research Center.
The surgeon general’s warning about social media comes because the rates of teenage depression, sadness and hopelessness have skyrocketed over the past decade, especially amongst girls.
“Teen depression began to rise around 2012, a time that coincides with the recognition of smartphones,” said Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University and the writer of “Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers and Silents—and What They Mean for America’s Future.”
It was also a time, Twenge said, that “‘likes’ on posts became common, and the algorithms began to grow to be more sophisticated to maintain people on social media for longer. That is clearly not a coincidence.”
The surgeon general’s report also blamed social media for perpetuating eating disorders, body dysmorphia and low self-esteem. Some evidence also suggests a possible link between excessive social media use and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in teens.
Twenge said social media can affect mental health in a wide range of ways. Each sleep and face-to-face social interaction are useful to mental health, she said, but when kids are online once they needs to be in bed or spending time with friends, that is an issue.
Feeling disregarded and comparing oneself to others will also be damaging.
“Even in case you know on an mental level that they could have taken 200 selfies to get the suitable one,” Twenge said, “at an emotional level, that is probably not processed.”
What will be done?
The surgeon general’s report outlines recommendations for each technology firms and lawmakers.
“Policymakers have to step up and help be certain that we’ve strong safety standards, to assist protect our children from exposure to harmful content, and to also protect them from excessive use,” Murthy said. This includes enforcing age minimums.
Corporations are advised to create higher tools to guard teenagers, and loosen up on features that entice kids to remain online longer.
It’s parents who’re on the front lines now in attempting to help teens navigate the web world. The report encourages caregivers to create “tech-free” zones in the house, and to speak with kids about how social media use makes them feel.
“It’s really not fair to place the onus on parents alone. Why is not the industry held liable for creating the platforms and making the features that rather more addictive?” Steyer of Common Sense Media said. “There must be a serious national discussion.”
How old should kids be before using social media?
Most tech firms require users to be a minimum of 13 years old. But nearly 40% of youngsters between the ages of 8 and 12 use social media, the report said.
Murthy said he believes even 13 is just too young to be on social media but said there wasn’t enough data to suggest which age can be appropriate.
Twenge suggested that the age minimum needs to be set at 16.
“Let’s get some regulations in place now to assist kids who usually are not yet on social media,” Twenge said. “Perhaps we are able to save the subsequent generation.”