Yep, Yep, We all know that.

 Yep, Yep, We know all about that

 

Really old news.  Kids (and adults) are spending too much time on their screens and social media.  But, well, you know how folks are about their technology.

Now the dangers of social media are attracting the attention of the U.S. Surgeon General.  Remember this was the office that long ago warned us about the dangers of nicotine and smoking.  Last year this same office took a stand on the dangers of social media for developing brains.  Important stuff when even young elementary kids are carting around smartphones.

Federal and state legislatures have also weighed in to regulate the use of social media.   Lots of political districts and school districts have taken to the courts to sue major social media platforms like Facebook.  These groups are accusing the social media platforms of being unsafe for a child’s mental health.

There are lots of opinions floating around.  Now there is also some empirical data to add to the discussion.  A longitudinal and empirical research analysis found that more frequent use of smartphones and social media is associated with higher rates of mental distress, self-harming behaviors and suicide among teenagers. Children's brains are slower to develop.  Kids do not realize the long term impact of these behaviors, not only on their mental health but also on their digital reputations.  They are bullied into sending sexually explicit images of themselves to peers without realizing how long this digital image is going to be around and/or shared with others.  A youngster’s brain is not fully developed.  They lack the capacity to make judgements based on long term harm. Too often families and schools just throw up their proverbial hands and say, “there isn’t anything we can do, the phones are everywhere”.

That’s the easy way out.  It’s too late to ban the phone after the damage has been done.

Authors of the study strongly recommend that the damage from too much social media needs to be controlled.  They recommend students and families engage in nonjudgmental and developmentally appropriate discussions and problem-solving around ways to limit social media.  But what can schools and families do when these logical, mature approaches don’t deliver?  That may be the time to remind kids who pays the cell phone bill and who is in charge.  In the old days, the advice was, “if your friend jumped off the bridge, would you do that too?”.   If your kid answers yes or maybe to this question when the bridge is cell phone usage, maybe it’s time to be the grown up in the room.