Screen time and social media for children

In their words

“Excessive exposure to social media and negative news creates perceived existential threats that the body struggles to process, contributing to chronic stress and impairing physiological health.”

a biologist and former Kinsey Institute executive director specializing in oxytocin research

• Reducing screen time can help alleviate symptoms in people struggling with ADHD.

  a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist specializing in metabolic psychiatry

• Taking oneself off screens can help burnout evaporate by increasing tolerance to work stress without changing the work situation.

  a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist specializing in metabolic psychiatry

• Instagram and YouTube deliberately designed their platforms to addict children, not accidentally or negligently but with malice and fraud as found by a jury.

  a media host and psychologist with a lapsed clinical license

• Kids’ and teens’ brains need a lot of in-person time to wire up properly; social media distorts what friendship and connection look like.

  a social psychologist and NYU Stern professor

• Do not allow screens to replace the 7 to 9 hours teens currently spend on them every day to protect mental health and development.

  a social psychologist and NYU Stern professor

• Watching a movie together as a family is good because it involves shared emotions, conversation, and longer storylines unlike social media content.

  a social psychologist and NYU Stern professor

• Reducing smartphone use, especially switching to a basic phone, improves teens' mental health and happiness as shown by a teenager who switched and influenced friends to try it.

  a social psychologist and NYU Stern professor

• When reducing smartphone or social media use, adding independent, unsupervised activities creates a more empowering balance for kids and teens.

  a social psychologist and NYU Stern professor

• Jonathan Haidt states that about 48% of American adolescents are online almost constantly and are addicted to their phones and social media, indicating a serious addiction problem.

  a social psychologist and NYU Stern professor

• Social media platforms like Instagram have become a primary venue for child molesters to exploit children by soliciting inappropriate photos, making online safety a critical area for parental protection.

  a social psychologist and NYU Stern professor

• To reverse the destruction of attention caused by excessive screen time, exposure to iPads, smartphones, and social media should be delayed and limited in duration and platform use.

  a social psychologist and NYU Stern professor

• Limiting screen time and increasing opportunities for play, independence, and growth in the real world helps restore attention and supports calm, joyful, and balanced childhood and adolescence.

  a social psychologist and NYU Stern professor

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With care

Some of the minds attach conditions. These are worth reading before you begin.

• technology as an extension of ourselves impacts teens' ability to process emotions and experiences, so awareness is crucial

  a psychoanalyst and author of Being There

• Technology has dehumanized us and increased isolation, which may contribute to romantic disconnect.

  a licensed mental health counselor

• Sending a reel that says 'This is me' or 'You too?' can release small cues of safety and momentarily settle the nervous system through shared recognition, though it is not deep healing.

  a licensed mental health counselor

• Teens have a love-hate relationship with phones, enjoying connection but suffering from the always-on, competitive, beauty-and-success-obsessed culture on social media that increases social comparison and feelings of inadequacy.

  a social psychologist and NYU Stern professor

• Giving kids smartphones leads to a drop in 80% of healthy, normal, necessary childhood activities and shifts their life to revolve around the phone, which is harmful.

  a social psychologist and NYU Stern professor

• Withdrawal symptoms like irritability can last 2-3 weeks after removing addictive apps, so experiments to lessen smartphone use should last at least that long.

  a social psychologist and NYU Stern professor

• Excessive social media use, averaging eight to nine hours a day, is changing the way teenagers' brains work and contributing to mental health challenges, so moderation and mindful use are important.

  a social psychologist and NYU Stern professor

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