How Does Social Media Affect Mental Health for Our Children?

**Learn about the negative effects of social media on mental health, how to protect your children, and some surprising benefits too.**

In honor of National Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re raising awareness of the effects of technology on mental health. In this blog post, we explore the negative effects of social media on mental health and how to protect your children...

… along with some surprising benefits social media provides too.

What’s changed for our children today?

In this digital age, our children are growing up in a world where technology is present in every facet of their lives. In fact, using technology seems to be a requirement to function in today’s society.

🏫 Schools require students to use computers, tablets, and apps to complete homework assignments

📱 The majority of households no longer have landlines, requiring children to get smartphones at younger ages so parents can track their whereabouts

👫 Socializing with friends no longer looks like hours on the phone or going to school dances – children today use social media apps like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat to connect with friends

Technology and social media are ingrained in our everyday lives. So how does social media affect mental health?

The better question is – how could it not affect our children’s mental health?!

How does social media affect mental health?

Parents are becoming more concerned with the amount of time and influence social media seems to have on children. But what exactly are the negative effects of social media on mental health?

Feeling Lonely

One way social media can affect children's mental health is by adding to feelings of **loneliness and isolation**.
Many children spend **hours every day** scrolling through social media feeds – **comparing themselves** to their peers and social media influencers they look up to.

“18% of 8 to 12-year-olds and 62% of 13 to 18-year-olds reported using social media sites such as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Discord, and Reddit every day in 2021.” (Common Sense)

This not only causes body image issues by seeing professionally-edited and filtered images constantly on social media but can make children feel disconnected from the world around them. Instead of talking with people face-to-face, they are communicating through screens… leaving our children feeling empty and unfulfilled.

We are social beings, after all. We need face-to-face interaction and physical touch to thrive – especially children.

“We need 12 hugs a day for growth…If your children are not touched, they can get into a deficit state that can lead to negative mental health as well as show up as psychosomatic symptoms. These symptoms could include a headache, abdominal pain, anxiety, and sadness, to name a few.” (ScienceOxygen)

Cyberbullying

Nearly half of teens in the U.S. have been bullied online at least once. And cybersecurity victims are 1.9 times more likely to commit suicide. (TechJury)

We can all recall memories from our childhood of being bullied. After a few days or weeks of kids snickering on the bus or passing notes in class, the bullying usually stopped. Kids moved on to the next juiciest gossip.

Cyberbullying doesn’t stop.

It has severe consequences for children's mental health because cyberbullying lives online forever.

“68% of children that have gone through online harassment have experienced mental health issues.” (TechJury)

Cyberbullying takes many forms:

Name-calling and insults
Harassment
Intimidation
Stalking

It’s especially challenging for children to deal with cyberbullying because it follows them home… continuing to impact their lives outside of school or other social settings.

Cyberbullying can lead to feelings of anxiety and depression.

Anxiety & Depression

“Social media has the ability to increase anxiety and depression in children when used inappropriately, as well as potentially open them up to inappropriate sharing, hurtful language, bullying and more.”
- Ariana Hoet, a pediatric psychologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (The Hill)

Increased **anxiety and depression** are additional negative effects of social media on mental health.

Social media can create a **sense of pressure** to constantly be "on," with children feeling like they have to constantly check their feeds to stay up-to-date with their friends and peers. This can lead to a sense of **anxiety** and **FOMO** (fear of missing out) that can be detrimental to their mental health.

Social media can also be addicting. Children may find themselves spending hours on TikTok or YouTube, neglecting other areas of their lives such as homework, physical activity, and face-to-face social interactions.

But social media isn’t all bad.

Yes, there are many negative effects of social media on mental health… but there are some great benefits too.

How Does Social Media Affect Mental Health in a Positive Way?

Sense of Community

**According to a 2019 report by** **Child Mind Institute, 81% of teenagers claim that social media enhances their connection with their peers.**

Social media provides a sense of connection and community for children who may not have deep, personal relationships in their daily lives.

When children are able to hide behind a screen, they sometimes feel that they can let their guard down and open up emotionally to online friends. With social media, we’re better able to be our authentic selves and find others like us – without geographical limitations.

Self Expression

Social media also provides a platform for children to express themselves creatively by sharing their:

🎨Artwork

🎵 Music

✍️Writing

Similar to other forms of entertainment like TV, live shows, and books, social media also provides an escape and relaxation. Children who may be dealing with stress or anxiety in other areas of their lives can go to social media to step out of their lives temporarily and into the lives of others.

Introducing new perspectives and ideas.

“For the next generation, creativity is rooted in the ability to simply be their authentic self. It’s about ongoing self-discovery and also, about having fun.” - Simon Morris, VP of Marketing, EMEA and APAC at Adobe

Now that we’ve discussed the negative and positive effects of technology on mental health, how do we strike a balance that protects our children while still providing them room to grow and socialize using social media?

Protecting Your Children with Responsible Social Media

It’s important for parents to take an active role in monitoring children's online behavior. This includes setting limits on screen time, monitoring social media and gaming activity, and engaging in open and honest conversations about the risks and benefits of these technologies.

Reducing Screen Time

Research shows that too much screen time can be detrimental to children’s mental health. And yet, algorithms for social media platforms – like TikTok – are designed to keep users engaged longer. This is why it’s so crucial for parents to step in and monitor screen time for children.

How Much Screen Time Should Children Get a Day?

The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry provided the following guidelines for managing your children’s screen time:

Ages 6 and older up to two hours per day
Ages 2 to 5 up to one hour of screen time per day
All children under 2 shouldn’t get any screen time

It’s hard to enforce screen time limits, especially when we as adults are using screens all day. Some tips to enforce screen time are:

Turn off screens during family meals and outings
Take advantage of parental controls
Turn off screens and remove from bedrooms 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime
Make sure what your child is seeing is age-appropriate and point out good behaviors they’re seeing
Encourage your children to learn other activities (e.g., sports, music, art, and hobbies that don’t involve screens)
Set an example and limit your own screen time, when possible

But parents can only control so much. It’s also the responsibility of social media platforms to enforce responsible social media use too.

Some platforms, including TikTok, have introduced new safety measures for teen users, such as a 60-minute time limit. TikTok also pledged to send teen users a weekly recap of their screen time, urging users who spend more than 100 minutes per day on the app to consider curbing their screen time. (The Hill)

Mental Health Resources

It’s also important for children to have access to resources and support for managing their mental health. Things like:

Counseling
Support groups
Other forms of therapy

Encouraging healthy habits like regular physical activity, mindfulness practices, and engaging in creative activities will also help manage the effects of technology on mental health.

When we provide our children with access to resources and support for managing their mental health, we help them navigate the challenges of growing up in this digital age.
And thrive socially and as individuals.

Thanks for reading ❤

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