The US Surgeon General recently released an advisory on social media and youth mental health. The advisory notes that while almost all of those ages 13-17 use social media and it does provide some benefits to children and adolescents, it also presents a meaningful risk to them as well. The advisory also notes that the Surgeon General cannot conclude that social media is sufficiently safe for children and adolescents and immediate actions need to be taken to make social media safer for youth.
In addition to the advisory report and summary report on the website, you can also find key takeaways from the report, ideas on how children and youth, families, technology companies, policymakers, and researchers can take action, and additional toolkits and resources related to children, social media, and mental health.
Among the suggestions for families is creating a family media plan to help establish healthy technology boundaries at home. Note that The Smart Talk program from National PTA can help your family create such a plan. Additional Smart Talk resources can help your PTA host an interactive real-time event either in-person or virtually. Other PTA programs available through the PTA Connected initiative can also help families and PTAs in teaching children to act safely, responsibly, and thoughtfully online.
In the Toolkits and Resources section of the website, you can find materials from the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association, StopBullying.gov, and Youth Engaged 4 Change. Check out the website for more information.
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