U. S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD Said What Many Parents Already Know – There are Dangers for Children 13 Years-Old and Younger on Social Media

U. S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD Said What Many Parents Already Know – There are Dangers for Children 13 Years-Old and Younger on Social Media

For years, many parents have complained about the dangers of social media on children. The U. S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD confirmed this in a recent interview on CNN in which he said the following:

“I, personally, based on the data I’ve seen, believe that 13 is too early. … It’s a time where it’s really important for us to be thoughtful about what’s going into how they think about their own self-worth and their relationships and the skewed and often distorted environment of social media often does a disservice to many of those children ….”

Studies have confirmed the increasing use of social media by children over the past 8 years. One such study was completed in 2022 by Pew Research and found that 72% of teens now have access to a smartphone, computer or gaming console and approximately half of teens reported that they use the internet “almost constantly”. In fact, the increased use almost doubled since 2014/2015. Additionally, 35% of teens reported that they use “almost constantly” social media platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.

Dr. Murthy went on to say in his interview:

If parents can band together and say you know, as a group, we’re not going to allow our kids to use social media until 16 or 17 or 18 or whatever age they choose, that’s a much more effective strategy in making sure your kids don’t get exposed to harm early ….

The question now is – what will be done about this? The future of our children is at stake.

To learn more, please visit:

https://www.webmd.com/children/news/20230130/surgeon-general-says-13-year-olds-shouldnt-be-on-social-media

https://www.deseret.com/utah/2023/1/30/23577927/surgeon-general-13-too-young-for-social-media

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/