A Parents Guide: Social Media & Kids

Social media can have positive and negative effects on children and teens. While it can contribute to spaces of community and self-expression, social media has been shown to lead to low self-esteem, disordered eating, and depression. Research shows that the effects these media exposures have on mental health are closely related to how and why they are engaging with the content they are seeing and posting.

Experts agree: the longer kids and teens can stay off social media, the better. Do some research into the different apps and websites that your children are asking to use; some are more appropriate than others.

There is no blanket age indicating when a child or teen is ready for social media. Rather, a youth’s individual maturity level and developed soft skills must be considered, such as their ability to read social cues, impulse control, and susceptibility to rejection/criticism.

Preparing your kids for social media, in addition to staying up-to-date on new technology or the latest app, is a big and necessary job.

While it will look different for each family, general steps parents can take to prepare for safer social media use include:

• Model good social media behavior. Limit screen time and engage with others in-person in front of your child. Much like we try to teach our children healthy eating habits we need to teach them healthy screen time habits, too.
• Scroll and discuss. Using your own feed, explain what is acceptable or unacceptable and why, including posted content and comments. Explain that posts represent a moment in time and most people only post positive experiences. This can give the impression that another persons’ life is better, which should be talked about.
• Use safety features. Consider turning off likes and comments, turn off geo-tags/ tracking features, and explain the risks associated with posting your location. For kids, location sharing and viewing can be dangerous, and it can also lead to feelings of loneliness or not being included.
• Set agreed-upon expectations. A family media plan, including limits on screen time, content boundaries (don’t post selfies or photos of others without consent), and protecting personal information, should be established. If the plan is not followed, a consequence of time away from screens/social media should be enforced.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Dr. Tracy Protell is a child psychiatrist at Barton Psychiatry in South Lake Tahoe, CA.

Dr. Protell will host a free Wellness Webinar, “How to Have a Healthy Relationship with your Smartphone” on Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 5pm. Register in advance, or view previously recorded webinars at BartonHealth.org/Lecture.