Youth Social Media Warning

At this moment, we are experiencing a national youth mental health crisis.

The U. S. Surgeon General has recently prioritized an advisory that a diversified effort be made to reduce the risk of harm to children’s mental health from the use of social media. Although it has its benefits, it has been concluded that the Internet is not safe enough to support the psychological wellness of children and teens ages 13-17. Kids are spending too much time on the Internet. More than 3.5 hours a day are occupied with social media sites and 1/3 of kids are using it almost ceaselessly. The type of content that may cause the most harm, as well as what may be touted as protective factors, are now being seriously researched.

What parents and caregivers can do
to mitigate this problem:

Create a family media plan to help establish healthy technology boundaries at home—including social media use.
Create tech-free zones and encourage kids to nurture their in-person friendships.
As an adult, model responsible social media behavior. for your kids.
Teach our young about technology and empower them to be responsible online participants at an age-appropriate level that corresponds with natural child development.
Report cyberbullying, online abuse and exploitation.
Work with other parents to establish shared norms and healthy online practices.
Support programs and policies surrounding healthy social media use.

Report - Current Priorities of the
U. S. Surgeon General on Social
Media and Youth Mental Health:
https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/youth-
mentalhealth/social-media/index.html#understand

How to create a family media plan:
www.healthychildren.org/MediaUsePlan.

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Creating Balanced Relationships with Social Media →

How to craft online safeguards:
1. Prune your social media garden by deleting who and what provokes anxiety
2. Protect yourself by blocking
3. Remove toxic apps that focus on negativity. Counter these with daily positives, such as Nice News
4. Moderate exposure by taking periodic breaks to gain perspective and create balance in online activities
5. Turn off notifications that eat up time and create distractions that keep you from main goals
6. Remove blue-light screens to improve your sleep
7. Look at computer tracking that informs about the actual length of your screen time

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Suzette Turner-Clark, LCSW-S, RPT/S, RYT-200