| My short answers to this question are “sort of” and “not exactly”… I recently read the book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it brought about a lot of feelings of anxiety! It seems apparent that smartphones and social media have impacted adolescent mental health, but 1: that depends on other factors as well, 2: this technology isn’t going anywhere, so I thought I’d throw a few talking points out today parents may want to consider re navigating technology with your teen. |
| Notice the positives about smartphones and social media – Not only is this technology not going away, but if we can consider that there are positives to it as well, it may feel less like ‘just a horrible thing that’s harming our young people’. Smartphones and social media apps can bring connection to friends and family, making and maintaining those relationships, safety due to ability to call or text both ways, access to information online, and a fun outlet. Treat smartphones and apps as both a privilege and responsibility – You can take them away from your teen, their screen time can be a way to motivate them, etc. If they are not finishing their homework or are doing poorly in school, restricting their access to their phone until that changes may help. Consider doing some research – learn about the features of Snapchat, Instagram, X, etc. Which apps allow what type of media to be posted? Which apps have the highest volume of dangerous people? What are some safeguards that parents can put in place re parental control/ blockers and trackers. Informal research would include asking your teen which apps seem to be most popular with their age range at their school. Different apps will be popular with different ages of kids, different schools, and what’s cool now there will be something more cool next year. You might want to consider which apps you feel okay about your teen having or not, based on your teen’s temperament and age. Discuss/ educate your teen so that they can be an informed consumer – Explain the dangers of predators and information/identity theft. Walk through how a stranger could find out a lot of information about them –what school they go to, etc – by things that they post or by letting people follow them that they don’t know in real life. Talk about access to pornography, and what you hope to convey about that. Talk to them about how social media apps are designed to keep us engaged and scrolling and for us to buy products we don’t need. See the learning experiences / teachable moments– Think of some of the problems you have as an adult smartphone user and then magnify that for what your teen may be experiencing or will experience. Common issues even adults have with smartphones and social media include: time management, getting to sleep on time, paying attention to in person conversations, prioritizing work over screentime activities, dealing with distraction, and dealing with social comparison. Role model – it can be helpful if parents follow the same or similar rules that are set for teens, such as screen free times and zones (dinnertime, family activities, etc) Disclose your own behavior on social media [as a teachable moment] – notice things you struggle with or have struggled with and narrate the highs and lows to your teen in teen friendly language and length of story. Examples include, “I really put off working on my presentation because I kept refreshing my [insert app name here] to see who had commented or liked my post”; “I unfollowed neighbor Shelly because it seems like she’s always on vacation and her posts make me feel worse about my life”; “I muted so and so because she is always posting about this diet she’s on and how much weight she’s lost and I don’t think that’s good for my own self-image or the body positivity mindset I want to have” Foster real life connections – in terms of combatting some of the negative impact social media can have on mental health, it may help to encourage your teen to do in person activities with peers, family, or to branch out and try a new activity or meet new people. And finally, Keep the discussions with them ongoing and revise rules and guidelines accordingly 😊 |
This blog was written by Sue Goetz, LCSW. Find out more and contact Sue through www.hopeintherapy.com
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