Surgeon general issues warning on social media. How NJ parents can protect their kids

2-minute read

Gene Myers
NorthJersey.com

The U.S. surgeon general warned Tuesday that there is not enough evidence to show that social media is safe for children and teens — and called on tech companies, parents and caregivers to take “immediate action to protect kids now.”

With young people’s social media use “near universal” but its true impact on mental health not fully understood, Dr. Vivek Murthy is asking tech companies to share data and increase transparency with researchers and the public and to prioritize users’ health and safety when designing their products.

The recommendations, issued in a new report, resonated with North Jersey parents struggling to balance the risks and benefits for children.

“What scares me the most about it is how unregulated it is,” said Kate Sullivan, a 34-year-old mom who lives in Emerson and has a 4-year-old son. "Adolescents have access to social media all hours of the day and night.”

Many messaging apps are available besides the stock ones that come with iOS and Android phones.  Authorities say some of them are dangerous for children to use.  (Lannis Waters / The Palm Beach Post)

Here's what the surgeon general said about the latest research — and what parents and guardians can do to mitigate the impact:

Social media and kids: What the research shows

The advisory found that social media often exposes kids to cyberbullying and inappropriate, harmful content. With up to 95% of teenagers and 40% of children ages 8 to 12 on social media, Murthy warned about a variety of risks: 

  • Perpetuation of body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behaviors, harmful comparisons and low self-esteem, especially among adolescent girls.
  • Asked about the impact of social media on their body image, 46% of adolescents ages 13 to 17 said social media makes them feel worse, 40% said it makes them feel neither better nor worse and only 14% said it makes them feel better.
  • Roughly two-thirds (64%) of adolescents are “often” or “sometimes” exposed to hateful content.
  • Some social media platforms show content related to suicide and self-harm, including live depictions of self-injury. The material, in certain cases, has been linked to childhood deaths, the report said.

“Excessive social media use can be problematic, with many adolescents using screens, primarily social media, until midnight or later on a typical weekday," it added. "Studies have indicated a correlation between excessive use and poor sleep quality, reduced duration, sleep difficulties, and depression among youth. Additionally, a significant number of girls and teenagers report feeling addicted to certain social media platforms, making it challenging to give them up."

What parents can do

The surgeon general offered the following recommendations for parents:

  • Talk to children about the risks of social media and how to use it safely.
  • Set limits on screen time.
  • Monitor children's social media activity.
  • Talk to children about cyberbullying and how to deal with it.
  • Encourage children to be critical of the content they see on social media.

Tips from NJ mental health experts:Why your parenting style won't work with digital kids

The report didn't specify how much screen time is ideal — and Murthy acknowledged that social media can have benefits as well, helping kids to make positive connections with peers — but he urged parents and caretakers to set boundaries.

Sarah Mulligan, a Wood-Ridge mom, is already coming up with a plan for her three young children, even though her oldest is just 4.

“He’s in his first year of school and he’ll pretend to text,” she said in an interview Tuesday. “My son will turn 5 next month. He’s in pre-K. We give him maybe 10 minutes of screen time a week.”

“TikTok videos, text messages, social media — it should all have limits," added Sullivan, the Emerson mom. "No one lets their child go on endless play dates.”

Companies, regulators urged to step up

The report also called on social media companies and the government to do more, recommending:

  • Policy makers should set stronger safety standards and limits on access to social media for children, better protecting their privacy.
  • More transparency from social media companies about the impact of their products on youth.
  • Better education for parents and caregivers about the risks of social media and how to help their children use it safely.
  • More research on the impact of social media on youth mental health.

More:How social media is transforming teens' ideas about sex may surprise you

“I recognize technology companies have taken steps to try to make their platforms healthier and safer, but it’s simply not enough,” Murthy told The Associated Press in an interview. “You can just look at the age requirements, where platforms have said 13 is the age at which people can start using their platforms. Yet 40% of kids 8 through 12 are on social media. How does that happen if you’re actually enforcing your policies?”

To comply with federal regulations, social media companies already ban kids under 13 from signing up to their platforms — but children have been shown to get around the bans easily, both with and without their parents’ consent.

Other measures social platforms have taken to address concerns about children’s mental health are also easily circumvented. For instance, TikTok recently introduced a default 60-minute time limit for users under 18. But once the limit is reached, minors can simply enter a passcode to keep watching.

Instagram whistleblower

It’s not that the companies are unaware of the harms their platforms are causing. Meta, for instance, studied the effects of Instagram on teens’ mental health years ago and found that the peer pressure generated by the visually focused app led to mental health and body-image problems and, in some cases, eating disorders and suicidal thoughts in teens — especially in girls. One internal study cited 13.5% of teen girls saying Instagram makes thoughts of suicide worse and 17% of teen girls saying it makes eating disorders worse.

The research was revealed in 2021 by whistleblower Frances Haugen. Meta sought to downplay the harmful effects of its platform on teens at the time, but put on hold its work on a kids’ version of Instagram, which the company says is meant mainly for tweens ages 10 to 12.

“The bottom line is we do not have enough evidence to conclude that social media is, in fact, sufficiently safe for our kids. And that’s really important for parents to know,” said Murthy, who has been traveling around the country talking to parents and young people about the youth mental health crisis. “The most common question I get from parents is whether social media is safe for their kids.”

Policymakers need to address the harms of social media the same way they regulate things like car seats, baby formula, medication and other products children use, Murthy said in a report published Tuesday. Parents — and kids — simply can’t do it all.

“We’re asking parents to manage a technology that’s rapidly evolving that fundamentally changes how their kids think about themselves, how they build friendships, how they experience the world — and technology, by the way, that prior generations never had to manage,” Murthy said. “And we’re putting all of that on the shoulders of parents, which is just simply not fair.”

This story contains material from the Associated Press.

Gene Myers covers disability and mental health for NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: myers@northjersey.com; Twitter: @myersgene