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.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/