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For the first time, the American Psychological Association has issued recommendations for guiding teens’ use of social media. The recommendations, released Tuesday, are aimed at teens, parents, teachers and policy makers.
This comes at a time when teenagers are facing high rates of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. And, as NPR reports, there’s growing evidence that social media can exacerbate and even cause these problems.
“I think the country is struggling right now with social media,” said Dr. Arthur Evans, CEO of APA. He said the report brings together the latest science on social media to give people “the information they need to be good parents and good policy makers in this area.”
The report’s 10 recommendations summarize recent scientific findings and include monitoring teens’ feeds and training them in social media literacy even before they start using these platforms. Advice is mainly given on actions taken by parents.
However, some therapists and clinicians argue that this recommendation places too much of a burden on parents. Implementing this guidance will require cooperation from technology companies and, in some cases, regulators.
“We’re in a crisis here, and families and parents have very limited ability to deal with this at this point,” said Wall, an inpatient facility that supports teens with eating disorders. says Robert Keene, a therapist at Den Behavioral Care. “The family really needs help.”
Screening, monitoring and training
While social media can provide an opportunity to stay connected, especially during periods of social isolation like the pandemic, the APA says that youth should be regularly monitored for signs of “problematic social media use.” states that it should be inspected.
“Is it interfering with your child’s sleep or physical activity? Is it interfering with school or other activities important for development?” Evans asks. “Or is it difficult for them to stay away from social media? Or do they lie to engage with social media?” Evans says parents should keep these things in mind when monitoring their children’s social media use. I say it should be done.
APA also recommends that parents closely monitor their children’s social media feeds during early adolescence, approximately between ages 10 and 14. Parents should try to minimize or stop dangerous content their children are exposed to, such as posts related to suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, racism, and bullying. Research shows that exposure to this type of content may encourage similar behavior in some young people, APA notes.
This type of content is more common in children’s feeds than parents realize. A recent survey of teenage girls found that 40% view harmful suicide-related images or videos on Instagram or TikTok at least once a month, and about a third view them at least once a month. One time they said they watched content related to eating disorders on Instagram or TikTok. Snapchat and YouTube.
Another important recommendation is to limit the use of social media for comparative purposes, especially beauty or appearance-related content. Research shows that when children use social media to reflect on their own and others’ appearance online, it can lead to poor body image and depression, especially among girls.
As children get older and gain digital literacy skills, they need more privacy and autonomy in their social media use, but parents should always keep an open dialogue about what they’re doing online .
“As your child gets older, you’re going to spend a lot of time teaching them, talking to them, helping them with their education,” Evans says.
The report also warns parents to monitor their own social media use, citing research showing that adults’ attitudes towards social media and how they use it in front of children can influence young people. ing.
Bigger problems than parents can handle
But some psychologists say this guidance lacks concrete, actionable advice. For example, where can parents find social media training for their kids?
“This is not like teaching a child to drive a car,” Keene said. “This is completely new information for many parents and children. I don’t think this is a level playing field. In fact, your children are far ahead of you in this regard.”
And how do you monitor the apps your kids know more about than you? “You can’t monitor what your kids are doing on these platforms, it’s impossible,” he stresses. “As a parent, these feeds take you away from them.”
Keene and his colleagues argue that dangerous substances shouldn’t be in children’s food in the first place. “It’s a little hard to imagine that these recommendations could be implemented without coordination with big tech companies or even regulation from Congress,” says Kameron Mendez, a therapist who works with Keene at Walden Behavioral Care.
“It’s a great start, but I think we still have a long way to go before it translates into real change,” he says.
APA’s report includes recommendations that could be adopted by policymakers seeking to regulate the industry. For example, a “reporting system” to identify and remove or deprioritize social media content depicting “illegal or psychologically maladaptive behavior” such as self-harm, harm to others, or eating disorders. ” is recommended.
It also notes that social media platforms may need to be redesigned to take into account the “ability to develop young people”, including features such as infinite scrolling and recommended content. It suggests that teens should be “explicitly and repeatedly” warned about how their personal data may be stored, shared and used.
Emma Lembke, 19, founded LogOFF, an initiative to help young people manage their social media use and reconnect with their offline lives. She says teens need to be involved in creating these types of recommendations and social media training.
“This system must be built with young people at the table as active participants, not passive bystanders,” she says. “I think a lot of these curricula are created by individuals who don’t understand what it’s like to grow up as digital natives, as naive young people in an online world.”