Social media can be a great way for teens and tweens to stay connected with friends, family, and others with common interests. However, its unsupervised use can also be a gateway to problems.
U.S. behavioral health officials are urging parents to monitor their children’s social media habits, citing it as a factor in the increase in mental health problems among adolescents.
The progression from what starts as a standard diversion, like watching TV or playing video games, to something darker can be a slippery slope, says partner Dene Hovet behavioral health advisor for Sanford Health.
In many cases, neither children nor parents realize the extent to which the Internet and social media have taken over their lives.
“It’s important to set limits with your children as you would any other social interaction or situation,” Hovet said. “For example, if your child wants to go to the park and spend a few hours with friends, you can set a limit. Something like: “I want you to be home by 5 p.m. »
The same parent who wants their child to eat dinner on time at home might be more hesitant to impose restrictions on social media use.
“What if your teenager comes up to you and says, ‘Hey, can I go down to the park and stand on a bench for 10 to 12 hours and see how many of you like my outfit?’ “, Hovet said. “It puts things into perspective. Balance is important and it is important to approach it like any other social situation. Are you really going to let them stay there all day?
Social media and children’s mental health
American General Surgeon, Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an opinion Recently, reports indicate that social media can harm the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. Dr Murthy called on policymakers, technology companies, educators, families and young people to better understand the impact of social media use.
“The most common question parents ask is: Is social media safe for my children? The answer is that we don’t have enough evidence to say it’s safe, and in fact there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with mental health harm. young people,” said Dr. Murthy.
“Children are exposed to harmful content on social media, ranging from violent and sexual content to bullying and harassment,” he continued. “And for too many children, social media use compromises their sleep and the precious time they spend in person with family and friends. We are in the midst of a national youth mental health crisis, and I fear that social media is a significant driver of this crisis – one that we urgently need to address.
Be honest about screen time
Hovet’s role at Sanford often puts her in contact with teens and pre-teens regarding their level of engagement with social media. These conversations can be revealing.
“We start by sitting down and looking at the numbers,” Hovet said. “We look at screen time and those numbers don’t lie. Sometimes we come face to face and we’re like, “Okay, was I really on Instagram for six hours yesterday?” And then it’s ‘Oh my God, maybe I can do a better job with this.’
How does a parent talk to their child about social media? This can be uncomfortable in many cases because children often know more about social media than their parents. And parents know it. What starts as a lecture from a parent about the evils of social media can fall apart when the teen decides that whoever is lecturing them doesn’t have a clue.
Instead of lecturing, ask questions, Hovet said.
“You should ask your kids if they’re having any issues with social media and really talk about how you feel about social media,” she said. “The more you let children talk, the more they will open up and establish a level of rapport where they feel comfortable talking to you.”
Statistics provided in the Opinion of the Surgeon General of the United States constitute an intimidating context regarding the level of engagement of young people in social media. Whether it’s good or bad, it’s all around us and it’s not going anywhere.
Up to 95% of young people aged 13 to 17 use a social media platform, the report says, and more than a third say they use social media “almost constantly.”
Some feedback is positive: teens say social media helps them feel more accepted (58%) and gives them access to those who can support them in difficult situations (67%). Social media platforms also provide young people with a space where they can show their creative side (71%) and keep them more connected to what’s happening in their friends’ lives (80%).
However, in the same opinion, research indicates that adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media are twice as likely to suffer from mental health problems, such as symptoms of depression and anxiety. Social media use can lead to body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behaviors, social comparisons, and low self-esteem, especially among adolescent girls.
Talk about your family priorities
Cyberbullying can become especially troublesome for teens who are targeted anonymously by others who attend the same schools or live in the same communities. In Hovet’s conversations with parents, the number one concern about social media for their children is the existence of predatory adults posing as young people. For children, cyberbullying is considered a more serious problem.
As Hovet explains, the perpetrators create fake hate accounts with made-up names, then post photos of their fellow students, often accompanied by unflattering captions. These messages then circulate. While everyone hides behind fake names, victims of this type of bullying have no control over what is published.
“It can be very difficult for a lot of kids who don’t have a lot of self-esteem,” Hovet said. “Everyone is hiding behind fake accounts. You can use parental controls, but kids are pretty smart about that and they can bypass them.
Helping kids break bad social media habits can sometimes involve tough love. Getting this message across effectively can be difficult for a parent, but necessary.
“Better screen time habits come from setting limits at home and having really open discussions about it,” Hovet said. “What do we want our house to look like?” Do we want to sit at the table and not take out our phone? Do we want to have a clean-up day where we do a family activity and put aside all our social media?
“It’s a bigger topic than just social media. But we have to ask ourselves and our children: Do we want to live in a house where everyone is texting and watching videos on their phones all the time?
Review your search results
In recent years, all social media consumers – not just children – have been encouraged to be sensitive to triggering content and to opt out of any content that makes them uncomfortable. The use of algorithms to track teenagers’ Internet habits has complicated things considerably.
As an example, Hovet described a quest to find healthy recipes on the Internet. An algorithm-powered search could send a young person to a site explaining how to purge.
“It can be very dangerous,” Hovet said. “It’s important that children begin to identify, as they would in any other social situation, how something makes them feel. What is their instinctive reaction? Children are very good at knowing when they are on the wrong road.
Major social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and Snapchat all have settings that will prevent outside entities from monitoring your children’s content.
For parents who might be intimidated by the technical aspects of keeping their children safe when using the internet and social media, Hovet offered reassurance.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about building relationships and communicating with your kids,” she said. “When I talk to teenagers in high school, if they have a good relationship with their parents or a trusted adult, they will not hesitate to come to them when they are in difficulty. It is very important that children know that you will listen to them and that they can have good communication.
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Behavioral health, Children, Family medicine, Healthy lifestyle
