The American Psychological Association released new guidance Tuesday for adolescents’ use of social media, including training them in media literacy and limiting screen time so it does not interfere with sleep or physical activity.
“There’s probably not an hour or two that goes by without talking to kids about social media, screen addiction, phone usage, I-Pads,” said Medical Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, Dr. David Rube.
Rube told NBC6 that determined parents must "do the right thing even in the face of pushback and then have the willingness to follow through.”
Local psychiatrist, Dr. Delvena Thomas, suggested that maturity is necessary for social media and age plays a huge factor in the way adolescents cope and manage information.
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“Adults can’t manage social media so how are we asking our children to manage and cope with the access that they have to all this information. So to the parents, allow your child to have time," said Thomas. "Don’t give them too much too fast. Let them develop. Let them mature. Also foster an environment where you can communicate with your child about the things that they may see on social media.”
In an effort to provide guidance to adolescents and the parents, teachers and tech companies involved in their lives, Bryant formed an advisory panel to create recommendations to ensure that adolescents develop healthy social media practices.
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The result is the American Psychological Association Health Advisory on Social Media Use in Adolescence, which includes the following recommendations:
Among the report’s other recommendations:
- Tailor social media use, functionality and permissions to youths’ developmental capabilities; designs created for adults may not be appropriate for children.
- For younger kids, adults should monitor social media use, including discussing and coaching around social media content. This should be balanced with youths’ appropriate needs for privacy. Autonomy may increase gradually as kids age and gain more digital literacy skills.
- Minimize adolescents’ exposure to social media content that depicts illegal or psychologically maladaptive behavior, including content that instructs or encourages youth to engage in self-harm or high-risk behaviors or those that encourage eating-disordered behavior (such as restrictive eating, purging or excessive exercise).
- Minimize adolescents’ exposure to online content that promotes discrimination, prejudice, hate or cyberbullying, especially directed toward groups targeted because of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion or disability status.
- Monitor adolescents for signs of problematic social media use that can impair their ability to engage in daily roles and routines and may present risk for more serious psychological harms over time.
- Limit social media use so as not to interfere with adolescents’ sleep or physical activity, as each is required for healthy brain and psychological development.
- Limit adolescents’ use of social media for primarily beauty- or appearance-related content.
Although these guidelines aren't foolproof, they are a way to talk to your kids about the slippery slope that is social media.
