Thoughts on Social Media and Mental Health

With the holidays approaching, kids may be looking forward to receiving a first smartphone or a laptop computer, both of which are the dominant tools whereby kids access social media sites – increasingly being identified as a negative force in children’s lives.

As you may have heard, the nation of Australia recently passed a piece of legislation entitled “The Social Media Minimum Age” bill, setting a ban for children under the age of 16 to access or use social media. The legislation forces social media companies like Meta or TikTok to stop kids under the age of 16 from logging in to social media. Here in the U.S., the State of Florida has also enacted a ban for kids under the age of 14 to have access to a social media account.

Whether or not such laws are enforceable remains to be seen. But why is social media being banned? What is behind this push to restrict young people from “hanging out” on social media sites?

In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a health advisory entitled “Social Media and Youth Mental Health.” This report contains the following info:

Children's use of social media coincides with a developmental phase when children begin to forge their own identities – a phase when kids are especially susceptible to social pressures, peer opinions, and peer comparisons. This developmental phase is also a time of learning to regulate emotions and control impulses.

So if your child already is on social media or about to enter the world of social media, allow me to pass on the top 5 parental actions in overseeing social media use:

An excellent alternative set of parental actions to undertake and considerations to ponder are listed in this American Psychological Association article entitled “Keeping teens safe on social media: What parents should know to protect their kids.”

Lastly and on a related note, please take the opportunity to participate in the ISACS Webinar on building social skills in the digital age.

Sincerely,

Ben Hebebrand
GISC Director