AGs want social media warning label

It can be hard for adults to understand what it’s like to be on social media and not have a fully mature prefrontal cortex ?? (the brain area just behind the forehead, which helps us pay attention, anticipate the results of our actions, control our impulses, and manage emotional reactions). A similar thought experiment as in the reel: leave your phone at home and go for a walk, or go to work or to meet a friend. How many times will you look for your phone, or have the impulse to check something on it? Things are much, much worse for kids and teens, since they don’t have these internal control mechanisms yet — the prefrontal cortex doesn’t fully mature until age 25. Also, for adults social media is a fun way to get some distraction from real life — social media isn’t key to their reputation, and if they left one social media platform (or all of them) they wouldn’t suffer reputations risks. They wouldn’t be mocked by their friends. It costs them nothing socially. Many teens, on the other hand, report that leaving social media is unthinkable, even if they hate it, because they would be mocked by their friends. (As an example, see Decca Aitkenhead’s experiment in The Times.) Most adults are able to be good at their job and fulfill their parental and family obligations while maintaining a presence on several social media platforms. On the other hand, teens who are on social media (most of them) spend … 5 hours a day on social media. This is why we need to delay giving kids and teens smartphones until high school (age 14-15) and social media until at least 16. We can do this if we act together. #collectiveaction #anxiousgeneration #theanxiousgeneration #freetheanxiousgeneration #GenZ #smartphonefreechildhood #realworldchildhood #phonefreeschools #phonefreechildhood #GenZmentalhealth #GenAlpha #socialmedia #mentalhealth #kidsmentalhealth #TikTok #Instagram #teenagersmentalhealth #anxiety #depression #kidswithanxiety #phonebasedchildhood #anxietysupport #anxietyawareness #smartphones #basicphones #TheSundayTimes #DeccaAitkenhead #JonathanHaidt #Nudgestock

Attorneys General from 42 states — from both sides of the political aisle — are banding together to demand a warning label for social media sites in order to protect kids. In a letter to Congress the state officials wrote, “As state Attorneys General, we sometimes disagree about important issues, but all of us share an abiding concern for the safety of the kids in our jurisdictions - and algorithm-driven social media platforms threaten that safety.” Specifically, the group pointed to what it referred to as a growing body of evidence linking social media addiction for young adults and a mental health crisis, “including depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.” #socialmedia #regulation #congress #meta #x

Good start, but even products with warning labels have minimum age requirements.

Talk about a brain storm. The combination of school closures and stay-at-home-orders during the pandemic aged teen brains by as much as four years. That's led to an increase in eating disorders, anxiety and depression in adolescent girls and boys. One can only guess at the damage for adults. The difference in aging in the brain is significant. By measuring the thickness of the cerebral cortex, scientists discovered the brains of teen boys had prematurely aged 1.4 years, while girls showed accelerated aging of 4.2 years. Girls experienced more noticeable brain aging than boys where thinning was widespread, affecting 30 regions across both hemispheres and all lobes. In contrast, boys showed thinning in only two regions, both located in the occipital lobe, which plays a role in distance and depth perception, face recognition, and memory. In other words, boys tend to gather for sports and physical activity. Girls, on the other hand, rely on personal relationships for emotional support and self-identity. Because of this, the impact differs in terms of emotional growth and development. Whether these have long-term consequences remains to be seen, but it brings new light and awareness to the potential for behavioral disorders both in kids and adults alike https://lnkd.in/gR3_8yeB #mentalhealth #teenagers #pandemic #covid19 #emotions #children

The Surgeon General recently urged policy changes and cultural shifts to better support the mental health of parents and caregivers. Parents report more stress compared to other adults, and when stress is severe or prolonged, it can impact physical and mental health. Parents’ well-being is linked to the well-being of kids, affecting their health, learning, and their futures. The Surgeon General’s advisory on the mental health and well-being of parents notes that new challenges like social media and tech, the youth mental health crisis, and the loneliness epidemic, all play a role in some of the stress this generation of parents are experiencing. The Surgeon General urges that through policy changes and cultural shifts, we can help alleviate some of the stress and better support parents and caregivers. Earlier this year we released our Positive Parenting, Thriving Kids series, offering evidence-based information and skills to address these common parenting challenges through videos and print resources.?Take a look here: https://lnkd.in/gWERESrp

Social media platforms have become part of everyday life for most Americans, but it’s no secret that their algorithms are inherently addictive and can have devastating impacts on young people. That’s why I joined a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general in support of the U.S. Surgeon General’s recent call for Congress to require that a warning be placed on all algorithm-driven social media platforms. The responsibility for protecting children begins and ends with parents, but we can all do more. As the father of two teenagers myself, my interest in this issue goes beyond policy. It’s personal. https://lnkd.in/gPsZ74ni #arnews

CNN reports that 42 attorneys general wrote a letter to Congress asking it to require "Surgeon General warning labels on social media apps to help curtail addiction and a mental health crisis among young adults." I'm dubious - seems unlikely that this will have a significant, if any, effect on social media use. #law