Summary
A surgeon general notice is a public statement that draws the attention of the American people to an urgent public health problem and provides recommendations on how it should be addressed. Advisories are reserved for significant public health challenges that require the nation’s immediate awareness and action.
This Notice draws attention to growing concerns about the effects of social media on young people’s mental health. Explores and describes current evidence on the positive and negative impacts of social media on children and adolescents, some of the main areas of mental health and wellbeing concerns, and opportunities for further research to help understand the full scope and scale of the impact of the media and social networks.
This paper is not an exhaustive review of the literature. Rather, it was developed through a substantial review of the available evidence, which was found primarily through electronic searches of research articles published in English and resources suggested by a wide range of experts in the field, with priority given to the meta-analysis, among others. and systematic literature reviews. It also offers practical recommendations for the institutions that can shape online environments (policymakers and technology companies), as well as for what parents and caregivers, young people and researchers can do.
In a report, Murthy warned of the risks of social media use for young people and called on lawmakers, tech companies, researchers and parents to "urgently take action."
The use of social networks by young people is almost universal
Up to 95% in young ages report using a social media platform, with more than a third saying they use social media "almost constantly."
Although 13 is typically the minimum age requirement for using social media platforms in the U.S., nearly 40% of children ages 8 to 12 use social media. Despite this widespread use among children and adolescents, robust independent safety analyzes of the impact of social media on young people have not yet been conducted. There are growing concerns among researchers, parents and caregivers, young people, health care experts and others about the impact of social media on young people’s mental health.
We can maximize the benefits and minimize the harms of social media platforms to create safer, healthier online environments for children.
More research is needed to fully understand the impact of social media; However, current evidence indicates that while social media may have benefits for some children and adolescents, there are ample indicators that social media may also have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. . At this time, we do not yet have enough evidence to determine whether social media is safe enough for children and teens. We must recognize the growing body of research on potential harms, increase our collective understanding of the risks associated with social media use, and take urgent action to create safe and healthy digital environments that minimize harms and protect mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. be during critical stages of development.
Comments
"There are ample indicators that social media may also have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents," Murthy said.
The full effect of social media is not well understood, he noted. "Teenagers are not just smaller adults," Murthy told The New York Times. "They are in a different phase of development, and they are in a critical phase of brain development." Among the concerns is that if children use social media frequently, they may actually be disrupting their developing brains, specifically the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. These are important for emotional learning, emotional regulation, impulse control, and social behavior. This "could increase sensitivity to social rewards and punishments," the report stated.
Reaction to the report was enthusiastic
"Today’s children and adolescents do not know a world without digital technology, but the digital world was not built with children’s healthy mental development in mind. We need an approach to helping children, both online and offline, that meet each child where they are while working to make the digital spaces they inhabit safer and healthier. The Surgeon General’s Council calls for just that approach," said Dr. Sandy Chung, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, in a news release from Murthy.
The report comes at a time when there is an ongoing mental health crisis among American teenagers. The American Psychological Association has recommended that parents monitor teens’ use of social media, the Times reported. Social media can have both positive and negative aspects for teenagers, including connecting with others on the positive side and "extreme, inappropriate and harmful content", including self-harming behaviour, as a clear drawback.
"In early adolescence, when identities and a sense of self-worth are being formed, brain development is especially susceptible to social pressures, peer opinions, and peer comparison," the report stated.
According to the report, up to 95% of teens use at least one social media platform. More than a third use it "almost constantly," the Times noted.
Most platforms limit use to ages 13 and up, but nearly 40% of children ages 8 to 12 use social media, the report said.
"Our children have become unwitting participants in a decades-long experiment," Murthy wrote in the report. "It is critical that independent researchers and technology companies work together to rapidly advance our understanding of the impact of social media on children and adolescents."
Meanwhile, the burden has largely fallen on children and parents, Murthy said.
"It’s a lot to ask of parents: to take a new technology that is evolving rapidly and that fundamentally changes the way children perceive themselves" and asking parents to manage it, Murthy told the Times. "So we have to do what we do in other areas where we have product safety issues, which is set safety standards that parents can trust, that are actually met."
* Download the full report document in English .
