We see them everywhere, teenagers cocooned in their own private universes, oblivious to the sights and sounds around them. The adolescents embody a curious paradox, isolated among crowds, their earbuds a gateway to a world that directs them inward.
Teenagers average almost five hours a day online, and health officials worry about the negative impact on their mental health. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy addressed the “defining public health challenge of our time” in a recent opinion piece for the New York Times.
“Why is it that we have failed to respond to the harms of social media when they are no less urgent or widespread than those posed by unsafe cars, planes or food?” Murthy wrote.
With more than 95% of our kids using social media, the question has become profoundly relevant. The negative effects may be less visible than the perils associated with liquor or cigarettes, but they are no less insidious.
Murthy equated the danger to road hazards or contaminated food. He proposed tobacco-style warning labels on social media apps, advising parents of the peril to their children. The dangers, apparent for years, have grown into a crisis. Young consumers describe a dynamic eerily similar to the addictions of drinkers and smokers.
Murthy cannot unilaterally impose the warning labels, which would require congressional approval. Neither chamber has introduced such legislation, although the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing exploring the impact of social media on young people earlier this year. The New York Times piece represents the most urgent effort in a campaign that began years ago.
If the use of social media resulted in nothing worse than wasting time, it might seem benign. But the impact is far more disturbing. Research shows that teens who spend more than three hours a day on social media face more mental health problems, doubling their risk of depression.
“It’s no longer the culture for people to talk to each other,” Murthy said during a conference on the mental health crisis last month.
In a 2018 Pew Research Center poll, teens said social media platforms exacerbate already prevalent problems, including body shaming and rumor spreading.
One of the more ironic aspects of the findings is that despite this awareness, adolescents continue to access social media. The apparent paradox demonstrates the wicked nature of addiction.
“These harms are not a failure of willpower and parenting; they are the consequence of unleashing powerful technology without adequate safety measures, transparency or accountability,” Murthy wrote.
In his book, “The Anxious Generation,” published earlier this year, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt struggled to pinpoint the reasons for the problems, but he makes a compelling case that the rise in anguish in teens coincides with the adoption of smartphones.
“What is happening to us?” he asked. “How is technology changing us? The phone-based life produces spiritual degradation, not just in adolescents, but in all of us.”
If the “degradation” afflicts all age levels, it is all the more apparent among our youth.
They lack the discipline, the self-control, of adults, making them more susceptible to the allure of social media. The vulnerability is all the more heartbreaking for teens burdened by the angst of forging an identity on their journey to adulthood. “I think it’s essential that parents know what we now know, which is that there are significant harms associated with social media use,” Murthy told CNN. Acknowledging the benefits of social media, he said the negatives outweigh the positives. “For too many children, social media use is compromising their sleep and valuable in-person time with family and friends,” Murthy said. Warning labels would not eliminate the problem — the surgeon general proposes phone-free zones in schools — but awareness is a key weapon in the assault against any problem. Similar labels on tobacco products, instituted in 1965, led to a steady decline in cigarette smoking over the years. Health officials hope for similar results with social media; parents should do the same.
