There鈥檚 a lot we don鈥檛 know about how social media can affect developing brains, but the potential risk it poses to children鈥檚 mental health is substantial. That鈥檚 the big takeaway from an .
The advisory adds another high-profile voice to a growing chorus of policymakers in recent months who have highlighted the link between kids鈥� rising social media use and deteriorating mental health鈥攁 connection that educators have been ringing alarm bells over since before the pandemic.
While those concerns have struggled to capture much attention beyond education and research circles for a long time, this advisory is another indication that the issue of social media and kids鈥� mental health is now top of mind for policymakers.
鈥淭he bottom line is we do not have enough evidence to conclude that social media is sufficiently safe for our kids,鈥� Murthy said in . 鈥淚n fact, there is increasing evidence that social media use during adolescence鈥攁 critical stage of brain development鈥攊s associated with harm to mental health and well-being. In light of the ongoing youth mental health crisis, it is no longer possible to ignore social media鈥檚 potential contribution to the pain that millions of children and families are experiencing.鈥�
Advisories from the Surgeon General aim to highlight urgent public health issues and make recommendations for addressing them. This one specifically calls for more support for developing, implementing, and evaluating digital and media literacy curricula for schools; and it offers recommendations for policymakers and technology companies to consider.
The advisory is one more example of how pressure is building for social media companies to do more to address the harm an increasing number of policymakers and educational leaders say their products are causing young people.
Dozens of school districts from across the country have now sued the major social media companies, claiming that their products are eroding students鈥� mental health and burdening schools with fixing the problem. There is also a growing movement at both the state and federal levels to regulate social media companies and how minors can use their products.
Social media companies, for their part, say they are working diligently to protect young users by consulting with mental health experts and providing parental control options, screen management tools, and age-verification features, among other strategies.
The advisory underscores that more research is still needed. There are potential benefits to social media use among children and teens鈥攊t can provide a positive connection between kids with similar interests and identities. An oft-cited example is research showing that social media can be a lifeline to LGBTQ+ teens seeking connection with鈥攁nd support from鈥攑eers with common concerns. Many girls of color say in surveys that they see content on social media that shows their race or ethnicity in a positive and affirming light, which can be validating and good for their mental health and identity formation.
But social media can also expose children and teens to violent and racist content and predatory adults.
Current research also paints a worrisome picture, the advisory warns: there is growing evidence that social media poses a significant risk of harm to children鈥檚 mental health. One study found that adolescents who spent more than three hours per day on social media doubled their risk of experiencing mental health issues, such as symptoms of depression and anxiety. Another study of young adults found that limiting social media use to no more than half an hour a day for three weeks significantly improved the severity of participants鈥� depression.
Other research has found the more kids are on social media, the more problems they have with sleep, body image issues, cyber bullying, and low-self-esteem.
The negative side of social media can have far reaching effects, given that the vast majority of teens use it. Ninety-five percent of 13- to 17-year-olds are on social media and more than a third say they use it 鈥渁lmost constantly.鈥� Nearly 40 percent of children ages 8 to 12 use social media, even though most social media companies require users to be at least 13 to create an account.
Why developing brains are vulnerable to social media
To understand why social media can harm kids鈥� mental well-being, we have to look under the hood at how adolescent brains develop.
Adolescents鈥� brains are 鈥渦ndergoing a highly sensitive period of brain development鈥� between the ages of 10 and 19, the advisory says鈥攁 time when risk-taking behaviors peak and when mental health issues such as depression typically present themselves. This is also when kids are starting to parse out who they are and their place in the world, making them especially vulnerable to peer pressure.
Adolescents are also uniquely susceptible to social media features designed to keep users on the platform longer and longer. They simply do not have the maturity or discipline to know when to turn it off.
In addition to those mental health concerns, excessive social media use has also been linked to sleep and attention problems鈥攁ll of which affect adolescents鈥� ability to focus and learn in school.
The advisory points out that no child鈥檚 experience on social media is exactly alike鈥攊t depends on myriad factors such as how much time they spend on social media, what platforms they use, what kind of content they engage with, and even children鈥檚 individual personalities and backgrounds.
鈥淪ocial media has fundamentally changed the way children communicate, build relationships, and see themselves and the world,鈥� Murthy said in The Washington Post. He said he and his wife plan to keep their 5-year-old daughter off social media through middle school鈥攊f they can hold out that long.
Many of the concerns raised in the advisory form the backbone of a growing number of lawsuits filed by school districts against social media companies that claim that harm done to kids鈥� mental health is also harm done to schools, which are struggling to provide services to students with mental health and behavioral problems and keep them on track academically.
While many experts are generally not bullish about the lawsuits鈥� prospects in court, some say the legal action may go a long way toward raising awareness of the problems facing youth and the schools charged with educating them.
Legislation has also been filed in at least nine state houses this spring to regulate how children and teens interact with social media鈥�including age and time restrictions for young users and restrictions on how social media companies can use algorithms to recommend content to young users鈥攚ith two bills becoming law in Arkansas and Utah. In the past month, two such bills have also been filed at the federal level.
In response to those bills, TikTok; Snap, which owns SnapChat; and Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook all told Education Week that they are committed to protecting young users on their platforms and have instituted a number of policies, including parental controls, age-based account settings that include time restrictions, and limiting the spread and discovery of harmful content.
