Children don’t spend all of their time at school, so it’s not only the responsibility of educators to help young people curb their social media use. Much of the responsibility lies with federal policymakers who oversee the companies that make the apps, according to U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.
Still, there are some small, relatively light-lift efforts schools and educators can implement now to help, the nation’s top doctor said Oct. 17 during a webinar hosted by AASA, The School Superintendents Association.
Murthy has spent his tenure as surgeon general sounding the alarm about declining youth mental health, which he’s termed “the defining public health crisis of our time,” and the “epidemic of loneliness” plaguing young people. Both are driven in large part, he says, by their social media use, exposure to harmful content, and dwindling personal connections with peers.
He has repeatedly called on Congress and federal policymakers to take action to help limit children’s use of social media and their exposure to posts and videos that could be hurting their mental health. In June, he called for social media platforms to carry warning labels, akin to those on cigarette packs, warning of mental health harms to adolescents.
“Any notion that we should wait to do anything to address this and wait for more data doesn’t make sense and is actually irresponsible,” Murthy said during the AASA webinar. “In the last 20 years we have failed in our responsibility as a society to protect [children] from the harms of social media.”
It’s a job that requires more than teachers and schools. But educators can still help, he said.
One way is by starting and encouraging students to have conversations about their social media use and how it’s affecting them. Creating spaces in which students can talk to each other about what they’re experiencing and feeling can help them feel connected to each other, Murthy said. These could be informal gatherings, campuswide movements through which students pledge to put their phones down for a few hours each day or ditch social media completely, or formal clubs and groups aimed at curbing loneliness.
“I actually think one of the most powerful ways to engage young people is to ask them to help each other,” Murthy said. “The ‘log off’ movement, one of the things it does is it helps create those networks, so if students decide they’ll take a break from using social media and see how that feels, there are other students who are doing that with them, and can actually compare notes and can keep each other accountable.”
Schools can also implement “tech-free zones” where students can learn and engage with each other without the influence—and distraction—of their devices and social media. He acknowledged this can be difficult as more schools have incorporated technology like Chromebooks and tablets into the routine academic experience. But schools can consider providing devices that connect to the internet, but don’t allow access to social media websites and apps.
Murthy also noted that “some schools have been bolder,” and instituted cellphone bans during class time. To be sure, students’ cellphone use at school has become a hot button issue in education, and at least 15 states have passed laws or enacted policies that ban or restrict students’ use of cellphones in schools statewide or recommend local districts enact their own bans or restrictive policies.
“Those measures are all different strategies to create space for students to learn and engage with each other without technology,” Murthy said.
Doing so is important, he said.
“We assume people learn how to socialize and engage and build relationships, but that’s actually a skill that is learned over time,” Murthy said. “If you’re constantly on your devices, … you actually don’t necessarily build that social skill and social muscle.”
He said he doesn’t “think it’s realistic to have 100 percent exclusionary policies,” but believes it’s important to “draw boundaries around the use of technology.”
Murthy repeatedly acknowledged that the responsibility of managing children’s social media use cannot fall solely to schools, educators, and parents. Doing so would mean “we’re adding more to their plate and contributing to frustration, exhaustion, and burnout,” he said.
Many districts and states have filed lawsuits against social media giants Meta, Google, ByteDance, and Snap alleging their platforms have exacerbated children’s mental health woes and left schools to pick up the pieces with their finite resources. The companies have often responded by touting tools they’ve introduced that they say are aimed at keeping young people safe. Meta, for example, recently introduced Instagram teen accounts that will be private by default and restrict the kinds of content young users can view.
Some states have also passed their own social media restrictions. A new California law requires parental consent for social media platforms to send minors notifications late at night and during school hours as well as for social media algorithms to recommend or prioritize content based on young people’s personal information. A 2023 Utah law requires parental consent for minors to open social media accounts.
Murthy said it’s important that there be a federal response so there’s no variability in safety standards between states.
Murthy is advocating for four national measures:
- Requiring social media companies to disclose data about their products’ impact on children’s mental health.
- Requiring the companies to shield children from harmful content such as violence and pornography.
- Establishing and enforcing age requirements to use the platforms. (Social media companies’ policies say children younger than 13 cannot use their products. However, 40 percent of children between ages 8-12 report using social media, according to one study. That same study suggests about 95 percent of children ages 13-17 use social media.)
- Establishing guidelines and potentially restricting certain features such as infinite scroll, “like” buttons, and auto plays on videos. Those features are “all things intentionally put in to keep kids” engaged, Murthy said.
