We don’t need conclusive proof about the harms on kids’ mental health; the available facts merit an urgent response.
Is it me, or do kids these days have it way harder? Obviously their challenges are not more difficult than those of children living in war zones, or with the Bubonic Plague. Broadly speaking, however, the struggles of today’s youth are rooted in some pretty hard realities.
They may have been raised with every modern comfort, but this generation is saddled with the price tag for every previous generation’s unchecked waste. Climate anxiety is a hallmark of their childhood experience, among other anxieties.
We are all survivors of pandemic self-isolation, but the long months of reduced social contact contributed significantly to the youth mental health crisis.
Online connection offered kids a lifeline during isolation. It was especially important for minorities seeking community. However, the social platforms that kept youth tethered to the world outside were booby-trapped. Social media turned out to be a minefield of battered self-esteem, relentless marketing to minors, dopamine-inducing rewards for constant engagement, and a crippling fear of missing out.
We know platforms such as Instagram contribute to negative body image and eating disorders, particularly among girls. An environment of constant comparison makes them feel bad about their bodies, and Sephora product lines cash in.
Very few escape the pull. This generation of digital natives is hyperconnected, whether they’re immersed in doomscrolling, makeup routines, podcasts, or 100 flavours of misinformation delivered in varying hues of rage.
Could a surgeon general’s warning – like the graphic warnings on cigarettes – change the way young people use social media? U.S. surgeon general Vivek Murthy argues it’s time to try.
“In an emergency, you don’t have the luxury to wait for perfect information,” he wrote in a New York Times op-ed this week. “You assess the available facts, you use your best judgment, and you act quickly.”
The available facts are damning. A 2019 study found teens who spend more than three hours a day on social media are twice as likely to experience anxiety and depression. Social media can expose users to bullying, harassment, hateful and violent content, and online predators. Online habits can lead to sleep disruption, reduced self-esteem and self-harm.
A Centre for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH) study found more than a third of Ontario high school students – 35 per cent – spend five or more hours a day of their free time on electronic devices. Beginning this fall, Ontario will ban cellphones in classrooms province-wide. Quebec, B.C. and Alberta are following suit with cellphone and social media restrictions at school.
Cutting social media exposure at school – without making parents the bad guys – is a clear win for parents, who get a lot of pushback on curbing screen time at home. Nevertheless, mental health experts urge families to create “phone-free zones” around bedtime, meals and other times of social connection.
Some researchers contend a surgeon general’s warning is an overly broad remedy, fearing it could demonize regular adolescent behaviour. They argue harms lurk in the type of online content consumed, rather than the medium in which it’s delivered.
On the other hand, the medium is hardly neutral. Last fall, 41 U.S. states launched a lawsuit against Instagram owner Meta, alleging its platforms are designed to be addictive, at the expense of teens’ mental health. The suit identifies features such as likes, autoplay and endless scrolling as dopamine manipulators, along with the algorithms that determine what content users see.
We don’t have conclusive proof social media is dangerous to kids, but as Murthy emphasizes, we also don’t have reliable evidence it’s safe. In an emergency, we need to ask: Do we risk more harm by stigmatizing social media, or by doing nothing?