Friday, June 28, 2024

United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times calling on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms, similar to those now mandatory on cigarette boxes.

This call to action follows the Surgeon General’s Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health from 2023 that called for urgent action by policymakers, technology companies, researchers, families, and young people alike to gain a better understanding of the full impact of social media use. The Advisory confirms that there is certainly a need for more understanding about how social media affects our children’s developing brains.

To be clear, social media use by youth is nearly universal. Up to 95% of teens ages 13-17 report using a social media platform, with more than a third saying that they use it “almost constantly.” Nearly 40% of kids 8-12 use social media, despite the age 13 requirement to use the platforms.

We know that social media can benefit some youth. Teens who are part of the LGBTQ+ community, for example, can find a place for self-expression and acceptance on social media that they may not receive with their peer group. But the negative impact often outweighs the positive. Children and adolescents on social media are commonly exposed to extreme, inappropriate, and harmful content. Teenagers spend, on average, 3.5 hours per day on social media, which is concerning because those who spend more than 3 hours a day on social media double their risk of poor mental health including experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety.

As a direct service provider for thousands of youth in our community, Beech Brook has seen how kids’ mental health can worsen with increasing – and near constant - use of social media. And it’s not a problem that can be solved by parents and youth alone – this issue needs to be addressed on all levels of our community.

“We don't have enough evidence to say it's safe, and in fact, there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people’s mental health,” said the U.S. Surgeon General. “Children are exposed to harmful content on social media, ranging from violent and sexual content, to bullying and harassment. And for too many children, social media use is compromising their sleep and valuable in-person time with family and friends. We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis, and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis – one that we must urgently address.”

Beech Brook is doing what we can for our community to combat this issue and arm parents with information to help their children, but that is only a sliver of the approach needed. A warning label on social media is a good start, but the impact of social media on youth needs to be researched more fully, and we cannot afford to wait a few decades to understand the long-term effects. Our legislators need to take this up as a bi-partisan issue and take steps to strengthen safety standards and limit access in ways that make social media safer for children of all ages, better protect children’s privacy, support digital and media literacy, and fund additional research.

- Thomas P. Royer, Beech Brook President/CEO

Let your representatives know that this issue is important to you!

Visit www.usa.gov/elected-officials to find your elected officials and their contact information. Tell them that you care about making social media safe for our youth and support taking the actions recommended in the Surgeon General’s Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health.