Social media it can dominate our lives.
I mean, I was just on my phone,
it's everywhere and that's
especially true for kids.
I mean, it was huge.
And then the pandemic made
social media even bigger.
The Department of Health and Human Services
says kids spent nearly eight hours a
day in front of a screen last year.
And that does not include
the remote learning.
It also reports that 81% of people
14 to 22 years old use social media,
either daily or almost constantly.
All that comes as health experts say.
Social media is helping to fuel.
A youth mental health emergency.
I'm Tanya Rivera from now until 6:00 o'clock.
We're digging into the issue and what
experts say needs to happen to fix it.
We start with this Instagram CEO
testified in front of Congress to
defend claims the platform is not
doing enough to protect children.
CBS is Chris Van Cleave reports that
lawmakers want change and they want it now.
Now I recognize that many in this room have
deep reservations about our company in
the Senate, Hot seat Instagram had
Adam Moceri pushed back on claims the
app can be toxic for teens. Instagram
is addicted. Respectfully.
I don't believe the research suggests
that our products are addictive.
Missouri's first appearance
on Capitol Hill follows leaked
internal documents showing the app
proved harmful to young girls,
increasing anxieties about body image
and encouraging some teens to even
contemplate suicide, he told senators.
Instagram supports an industry wide
body to determine best practices for
safety issues like verifying age,
building age, appropriate experiences
and effective parental controls.
I think we have to reach the point where
we realize some real bad stuff is happening.
And dumb.
You're the new tobacco,
whether you like it or not,
and you've got to stop selling the tobacco.
15 year old Mason Bogard died
after apparently attempting a
choking challenge he saw online.
His mother, Joanne I think,
now is the time for Congress to
pass the legislation so that
we can hold them accountable.
Big tech accountable for these things
that they're letting slide through.
They're harming our kids
ahead of the hearing.
Instagram announced new safety
tools that will encourage teens to
take a break after prolonged use,
and will soon roll out its
first set of parental controls.
The Senators were not impressed.
For me, this is a case of too little,
too late, three hours a day.
Is that a good use of kids time?
I'm a parent. I ultimately think that
it's apparent that a parent knows
best what's best for their team,
so the appropriate amount of time.
Should be a decision by a
parent about the specific team
one senator told necessary.
When Instagram sees kids,
the company sees dollar signs,
but parents should see stop signs.
It's becoming increasingly clear
there is growing bipartisan support
for new regulations of big tech,
particularly when it comes
to children and teens.
Chris Van Cleave,
CBS News, Washington.
While other social
media sites have also made safety changes
recently Facebook does not allow minors
to share their location on its site.
It also launched specific messaging apps
geared towards kids that give parents
direct control of who the kids can message.
Now, YouTube requires video creators
to label content specifically made for
kids so that they can protect children.
In this event, it protects the site from
collecting data and it turns off certain
features like the comment feature.
One of the biggest apps out there
right now is tick Tock.
The company announced in September.
They reached more than 1
billion users worldwide.
Children account for a fourth of
all the users in EU S tick tock
also has safety features in place.
Parents can turn on restricted mode.
The app filters out content that may
not be appropriate for children,
and parents can also add time
limits to that app.
Well,
parents say they're having a really hard
time keeping up with the social media boom.
Some even say their children.
Are addictive.
They think social media has
good uses for kids though,
so it's not as simple as
just taking everything away.
I
find that the school does use
Facebook live during COVID and
remove those apps. I can't remove the
fact that this is a part of her reality.
Well, lawmakers continue to push for
more restrictions on the platform
since they are so widespread.
Well, it's obvious social
media is not going anywhere.
We talked with an expert from North
Carolina A&T to learn what it takes to
keep kids safe online and he says Yep,
starts at home with the parents.
A lot of parents are
pressuring Congress to come.
Do something about.
Bringing in social media.
Techies and parents
ever responsibility to.
They should be limiting their
children's access to social media.
So Doctor Smith says schools can help
prepare kids by teaching media literacy.
He thinks children need to know
how to handle social media before
actually being immersed in it.
Kind of like a car.
The problem is.
The media control less.
We don't control it.
Has exampled by our time on
social media and related issues.
Well, the US Surgeon General
released an advisory this week on
how to protect children's mental
health during this emergency.
It is dozens of pages long,
but it includes more than 20 pages of
recommendations on how we all can chip
in and help the surgeon general talks
about everyone from parents to educators,
employers, journalists.
We're going to post his recommendations to
our website so that you can read all of it,
but right now we're going to focus
on parents and social media sites.
The surgeon General says families
can do a bunch of things.
To support a child's mental health
and that includes monitoring how much
time they spend online, he says.
Keep up with how long they're on
social media and what they're viewing.
And social media can be beneficial for sure.
But kids can also get exposed
to negative interactions.
The surgeon General had plenty
of recommendations for social
media companies as well.
He says they need to make sure that
their apps are safe for children.
He thinks companies don't account
for different user experiences
across different various age groups,
and the surgeon general also
says companies should continue.
Developing tools to keep kids safe online.
Now there's clearly a whole lot to
consider when addressing mental health.
We talked with a psychologist from
App State to get a better idea of
where things stand here in our state.
He says expanding treatment
options could go a long way.
There's always a lot of talk about
stigma and that still remains true,
and I think the the best way to
promote the benefits of help seeking
is to offer many more options.
In other words, it can't be
true anymore that we just offer
a single type of intervention.
We have to be really creative.
We have to be ready to do things
that are maybe a lighter touch.
Right, and so we know there's not
going to be any lack of social media.
It's just going to continue to get
bigger and bigger as we learn today.
We all have a role to play
in keeping kids safe online.
Even the little things can add up.