Many social media sites allow
children to join when they
officially become a teenager,
but the US Surgeon General believes
that 13 is still too young for
kids to be on those platforms.
He says the kids are still
developing their identity and social
media may have a major impact.
There are two concerns I have about that.
One is I personally,
based on the data I've seen,
believe that 13 is too early.
And I think that it's a time,
you know, early adolescence where
kids are developing their identity,
their sense of self.
It's a time where it's really important.
Has to be thoughtful about what's going
into how they think about their own
self worth and their relationships.
And joining us now to talk
about this topic is night
health expert Doctor Pyle Coley.
And so it's, this is interesting.
You know, when you talk about maturity,
we've all talked about that.
But why the surgeon General
now weighing in on this.
You know, the body of medical
literature around what social media
is doing to our brains is growing.
It's exploding.
And I think social media sort of
crept in without us realizing the
medical and psychological impacts.
So now we're seeing that, you know,
not only does it affect our identity
as the surgeon general just said when
we're developing that as adolescence,
but it can actually change the
way that our brain is wired.
Which is something that's really
developing when we're adolescents.
So the data tells us,
and this study just came out
in JAMA Pediatrics,
that if we spend a lot
of time on social media,
we actually become more
sensitive to social criticism.
So that part of our brain that
sort of perceives our self
identity and self esteem can
actually become more sensitive.
Does the message coming from
the Surgeon general change the
impact it has with parents?
Because you tend to think of
as more of a psychological
thing or even a social thing,
but when now you're talking
about the medical impact,
I think people might.
Work up a little
bit for sure. And I think this is time,
the reason that the surgeon general put
his warning on this is because he wants
parents and adults to take note of the fact
that this is a a public health crisis.
Social media is a public health crisis.
It's highly addictive.
It obviously has this medical impact.
But what we're seeing is actually
dose dependent relationship.
So the more social media that you consume
and most of us consume about an hour,
hour and 40 minutes a day,
which is a lot of time,
the more psychological distress you.
Have. And
that's for everyone.
That's not for kids.
That's that goes from the
oldest to the youngest
across the board. Yeah.
And if you think about,
you know, what we're doing when
we're consuming social media,
what are we not doing?
We're not exercising.
We're not sleeping.
We're not, you know,
doing healthful behaviors that
could improve our health.
So there's obviously the direct impacts.
How are people perceiving me and such,
but also the indirect impacts
on our health as well.
Are we seeking stimulus when we do that?
If we're positive and negative, I mean,
is it, is that that thing that feeds us?
No, I think it's an addiction.
So think about it just. Like a drug.
What happens when you're addicted to a drug?
You have cravings, right?
So it's social media.
That's what happens. What else happens?
You need more and more of it to
achieve the same sort of high.
Same thing happens with social media.
It starts to interfere with your life.
How many people have you seen checking
their phone on traffic lights or walking
down the hall or or what have you?
Right? So it's got all the
hallmarks of an addictive behavior.
That's why, just like with tobacco,
and we're calling this a
tobacco sort of equivalent,
social media is really a public
health crisis in the United States.
And it's gonna mean a lot of parents and
caregivers have to check themselves too,
because it's one thing to tell your child
not to do something and then you do it.
But but like, it's hard because kids
start getting to an age when we talk
about 13 where you're trying to let
them start spreading their wings a
little so you can't be with them 24/7.
So what do you do to say?
I think it's hard to cut them
off completely and then they feel
socially isolated for other reasons
because their friends are doing it.
So I would say the dose here is
really important, and that's what
parents ought to pay attention to.
It doesn't have to be an all or
nothing thing, but maybe restrict
how much time they're spending on it,
restrict how they're sort of reacting to it.
And then just like we do dry January,
maybe we do dry February,
yeah, from social media.
And see what sort of healthful benefits
it has because some of that can also
be a positively reinforcing message.
They feel better because they're less
self-conscious and then they do less of it.
Yeah, it's going to have to be something
that you have to figure out how to
manage because it's not going away.
It's still growing and it's going to be more.
It's going to permeate even further.
So. We will follow up on it.
We'll get a chance to talk
to you more about it soon.
It's always good to see you.
Thanks, Doctor Paul Kohli.