The impact that social media has on mental health is significant, according to the U.S. Surgeon General. His advisoryabout the effects social media use has on youth mental healthshows 95% of children aged 13 to 17 use social media and more than a third say they use social media almost constantly.
Instagram's parent company META recently implemented a policy change, aiming to reduce children's social media use. Children’s Hospital Colorado Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and University of Colorado Associate Professor Joel Stoddard M.D. said the move is "a great first step."
“It's about time that we had some sort of guardrails for our teens because teenagers are particularly sensitive to the social media platform,” Stoddard said.
In response to growing concerns, Instagram introduced on Tuesday new restrictions for youth 16 and under engaging with the popular social media app.
“Some concerning things that have been found is an association between the time spent on social media specifically and feelings of anxiety and depression,” Stoddard said.
Some of the new initiatives for younger users include sleep mode, default private accounts, and age verification.
MORE |See full list of new initiatives for "Teen Accounts" here
“It should help with exposure to malicious content, which is one of the primary drivers here, and also reduce the amount of sleep disruption that social media can cause,” Stoddard said.
While the platform aims to limit teenage online interactions, he said there are valuable benefits of engagement that might be affected by this policy shift.
“Youth who have been in marginalized positions in society have found connections through social media that they would not have otherwise had," Stoddard said. “One of the things I want kids to have access to is a way to connect with folks for support when they need it, and I’m not sure that this would restrict that,”
It’s also necessary, he says, to find a balance between meaningful online connections and real-life interactions.
“Being present is one recommendation I would have for spending time not on social media,” Stoddard said. “That is being present with family, with friends. Be intentional with your time when you’re doing homework, for example. It’s remarkable how quickly homework can be done when you’re not distracted.”
For more information for parents surrounding social media safety visit the Children’s Colorado website.
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