Orlando, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — According to recent study by the American Psychological Association, teens spend an average of 4.8 hours per day on social media, and 87% of that time is spent on popular apps like TikTok and Instagram. These apps encourage continuous use with their never-ending feed that is tailored to what it thinks you want to see. Teenage brain
Social media algorithms continually feed the user information that will encourage the teenage brain to continue scrolling, drawing on FOMO, or the fear of missing out.
“Friends are hanging out without me, and so I feel sad and alone or left out, or, man, everybody’s got this thing and now I need this thing. And so, I’m anxious that I don’t have that thing,” said Laura Weckerle, MA, LMHC, NCC, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Sunlight Counseling.
And the consequences on your child’s mental health can be severe. Forty-one percent of teens who reported high social media use also reported poor mental health, and 10 percent reported self-harm or even suicidal intent. So, what can you do to help?
“Talk with your kid about what they want to use it for more so than like, the amount of time,” explained Weckerle.
And having an open line of communication with your child could be lifesaving. Only two percent of teens with strong parental relationships reported self-harm or suicidal intent, compared to 22 percent who had poor parental relationships, regardless of high social media use.
“Open shame-free communication at home, I think is a great idea. Just like we don’t let our kids stay home by themselves because it’s not safe, you know, we’re not just going to let them be on social media unchecked,” said Weckerle.
Laura Weckerle says there’s no magic number of how many hours a child should be spending on social media per day. Parents should consider physical and geographical limitations, or if social media is the main way your child connects with peers. She recommends making a priority list of what you want your child to be doing. But most important is to monitor social media use. Only 25 percent of teens report poor mental health with strong parental monitoring compared to 60 percent with poor parental monitoring.
Contributors to this news report include: Marcy Wilder, Producer; Bob Walko, Editor.
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Sources:
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2024/04/teen-social-use-mental-health
