NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 23: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex speaks about social media’s impact … [+] on children’s mental health at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) on September 24, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
School districts across the country are suing social media companies accusing them of creating apps that are fueling the mental health crisis and leading to addictive use. School districts across 19 states claim tech companies like Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap do not implement features like age verification or session timeouts which can detrimentally affect the well-being of children.
The tech companies want the case to be thrown out, despite facing hundreds of lawsuits on the issue.
Given the growing discussion and movement around tech’s role in the youth mental health crisis, should schools and parents really be concerned?
In short, the answer is yes.
For starters, social media has become an integral part of daily life for teens, with 90% of teens between the ages of 13 and 17 reporting using social media, according to The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Teens are online on average nine hours a day, which in many cases is longer than time spent in school or sleeping.
Nine hours of usage daily points to the addictive nature of social media, with algorithms such as notifications, endless scrolling and feeds that keep kids hooked on their screens. More time spent on social media means less time is being spent learning, concentrating and focusing on academic excellence. Continuously checking phones during school hours could potentially detract from real learning and result in poor retention of critical information.
Furthermore, there is a growing body of evidence that suggests social media use can significantly affect the development of the growing brain in a teenager. Areas of the brain that are important for thinking and regulating impulses and emotions are rapidly developing during the adolescent years, and are susceptible to the external influences of social media.
In his Surgeon General Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health, Dr. Vivek Murthy explains how frequent social media use can result in distinct changes in the developing brain; for example changes structurally to the amygdala which is the part of the brain that regulates emotions. We are only beginning to understand how social media can physically affect a child’s brain and there is likely to be much more clarification on this in the upcoming years after more research is done.
There is also no doubt that social media can absolutely affect a teen’s mental health. A large study has shown that greater social media use was associated with online harassment, poor sleep, low self-esteem, body weight dissatisfaction and higher depressive symptoms.
Consider the situation of a teen girl scrolling through her social media feed, constantly being exposed to highly curated, filtered pictures of models and influencers. This teen could easily develop feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem when comparing her life to pictures that promote unrealistic standards of beauty that are far from representing reality. These negative emotions can contribute to overall feelings of stress and anxiety, thereby detrimentally affecting mental health.
Social media can also expose teens to cyberbullying, which can be devastating. Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying can follow a teen everywhere since it is online and potentially in the palm of one’s hands through a phone. The anonymity of the internet and some social media platforms can lead to severe forms of verbal harassment without any accountability, which can directly affect a teen’s stress, confidence, anxiety and ability to fit in with their peers.
Given the potential for cyberbullying, effects on mental health and learning, schools and parents have every right to be frustrated with the tech’s role in the mental health crisis in teens. Schools and parents share a responsibility to address issues that can harm their children.
Australia recently banned social media use for individuals under 16 years of age. Whether other countries follow suit remains to be seen.
Interventions that schools should immediately consider include educating children on digital literacy, encouraging discussions on social media etiquette as well as designating specific times for social media use both at school and home.
Like most things in life, technology is a tool and can enhance well-being and productivity if used judiciously. Social media can allow teens to connect with friends, express themselves and learn critical information. By promoting healthy digital habits, schools and families can work together to ensure social media augments rather than harms their children’s lives.
