Although most teenagers now have smartphones, they express different emotions when using mobile devices and social media. According to Pew Research, about 27% of U.S. teens say they spend too much time on social media, and 64% say they spend the right amount of time.
Pew found that teenage girls are more likely than teenage boys to report spending too much time on their smartphones and social media, and overall, the majority of teens make an effort to limit their use. I discovered that I didn’t. However, 36% and 39% of teens said they had tried to curb their device and social media use, respectively.
“Children are being exposed to harmful content on social media, from violent and sexual content to bullying and harassment,” Murthy said in a statement on the social media health advisory. He added: “For too many children, social media use is taking a toll on sleep and precious face-to-face time with family and friends.”
As a child care worker, Finister has seen this phenomenon often. Increasingly, the children who come to her care have delays in the development of their gross motor skills and are in need of professionals to help them develop their language skills. Finister anticipates that in some cases children may be looking at screens for hours at home, so her childcare business operates a screen-free environment with no phones or televisions. There is.
Still, Finister finds it difficult to compete with the technology wave. Finister constantly reminds her children, now 21 and 28, to be careful with their smartphone use while growing up, but she thinks they’re still too attached to their devices. I feel that.
A July 2023 Gallup poll details that teens spend an average of 4.8 hours per day on various social media platforms. Teens and older spent 5.8 hours per day browsing social media.
Murthy added that he believes the United States is in the midst of a youth mental health crisis. “We are concerned that social media is a key factor in that crisis and must be addressed urgently,” he said.
Murthy’s call for Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms is inspired by changes seen when similar efforts were made for cigarettes. Warning labels helped reduce smoking by 50 years.
Ways to curb personal smartphone use include taking breaks during the day, removing distracting apps, muting notifications, setting your device to grayscale, and finding another screen-free hobby. There is. But the Surgeon General says efforts to protect teens from the harmful effects of devices and social media must be a group effort to maximize benefits and minimize harm. Murthy urgently called on policymakers to put in place stronger safeguards and support digital literacy.
He also said researchers should develop tools to ensure online spaces are ideal for young people’s health, and that technology companies should protect children’s privacy and be aware of the impact their services have on young people. I suggested that.
Many states have heeded Murthy’s call, starting with Florida, which enacted a law banning the use of phones in schools in July 2023. As of September 2024, 15 states have adopted or are implementing restrictive policies, according to Newsweek.
Additionally, in his recommendations, Murthy encouraged parents to ensure that their children have time to stay away from technology and learn proper online etiquette while fulfilling their responsible online roles.
“There are no seatbelts for parents to click, there are no helmets to click into place, and trusted experts have proven that these platforms are safe for children,” Murthy told the New York Times. There is no guarantee that there is any research to ensure that this is the case. There are just parents and their children.” They tried to figure it out for themselves, pitting them against the best product engineers and the most resourceful companies in the world. ”
Story editor: Shana Kelly. Additional editing by Carren Jao and Kelly Glass. Copy edited by Kristen Wegzin.
This story originally appeared on Spokeo and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
