Federal health data highlights why this is so important. In 2021, 42% of high school students reported feeling so sad or hopeless almost every day for at least two weeks that they stopped their normal activities. This crisis is especially acute among girls. Nearly three in five teenage girls report persistent feelings of sadness, an increase of more than 60 percent since 2011.
In fact, social media is creating a “perfect storm” for girls, Jelena Kecmanovic, a psychotherapist and adjunct professor of psychology at Georgetown University, told me. “The tendency to be perfectionistic and hard on oneself in tweens and teens is amplified thousands of times in an online culture of comparison,” she says.
The problems associated with online interactions are also being replaced by them. A 2022 study found that average daily screen time has increased even further during the pandemic, now reaching more than 5.5 hours for children ages 8 to 12 and a whopping 5.5 hours for teens ages 13 to 18. It is 8 hours and 39 minutes. This is time that was previously spent using screens. -About relationships and healthy activities such as playing outside, playing sports, and sleeping.
Pediatrician Michael Rich, who co-founded and directs the Interactive Media and Internet Disorders Clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital, says that excessive use of social media can lead to “physical, mental, and social health problems. He explained to me that he treats teenagers who are suffering. He’s seen straight-A students’ grades plummet and young people struggle to form relationships after entering college.
Given the magnitude of the problem, it can be daunting for parents to solve it. Still, you can follow her four steps below.
1
Create a screen-free space.
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Kecmanovic suggests putting guardrails in place, such as removing screens while eating and before going to bed. Parents should also limit their children’s social media use to shared family spaces and “definitely not in their bedrooms, not behind locked doors, and never before 2 a.m.” at a time when kids are supposed to be sleeping. ā can also be done.
Given the prevalence of technology and its use in school curricula, it may be difficult to enforce screen time limits. Instead, Rich advises setting a minimum amount of screen-free time. “This would be a more realistic way to provide children with a rich and varied menu of experiences. Screens can be included, but they should not be dominated or become the default behavior.” It’s not,” he said.
2
Talk to your kids and make a plan together.
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Children may already know the negative effects social media has on them. Kecmanovic’s patients tell her they know that her Instagram makes them feel sick and that her TikToks disrupt her sleep. The key to finding solutions together is to start with where you are.
Prevention is the best medicine, so it’s best to start planning before your child gets a device or social media account. Rich advises parents to set boundaries, monitor usage, and explain the consequences of failure. It’s no different than setting ground rules for teenagers when learning to drive. āWe need to parent in the digital space just as much as we parent in the physical space,ā he said.
3
Help teens engage with technology consciously.
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Both experts said that digital technology can be used positively when used for specific purposes, such as studying at school or connecting with friends.
Parents can teach their children to ask themselves every 5 to 10 minutes whether they are doing what they set out to do or scrolling mindlessly. And they themselves need to model this behavior. “Parents should be humble and say this is tough on all of us,” Kecmanovic said.
Most social media sites now require a minimum age of 13 years or older. When I spoke to the U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek H. Murthy, he said bluntly that this needs to change. āIn my opinion, 13 is too young,ā he told me.
Kecmanovic believes that children should not use social media until at least high school. She advises her parents to form a “cluster” with the families of their children’s friends. Similar to pandemic populations, these groups can collectively decide to delay access to smartphones and social media.
After all, it’s not right that parents should have to fight this battle alone against companies whose business model is to keep people online for as long as possible. Other commonly used products, from crib mattresses to sippy cups, must pass safety evaluations. Similar regulations are needed for technology that dominates children’s time and harms their health.