January 30, 2023
What age is the right age to allow kids on social media?
We know social media platforms let you make an account at 13…but the US Surgeon General is warning that’s waaaaay too young and parents should not allow their kids on social media until maybe age 16, 17 or 18.
why? The Surgeon General says those young kids are still developing their identities and how they value their own self-worth and their relationships with the world can get severely skewed if they’re constantly scrolling their social media feeds.
Just this month there was a study published in JAMA –the Journal of the American Medical Association– that found the brains of 6th and 7th graders who constantly checked their Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat form differently than other kids who don’t. You can probably put TikTok in that group too.
The “distinct” change in those 6th and 7th graders came from the part of their brains that motivate towards and cognitively control what they consider social punishments and social rewards. In the end – the study found having that skewed perspective contributes to how kids psychologically adjust to the world. The study says more research needs to be done on the long term effects of all this.
lawmakers in Washington DC have been looking at how to write laws to protect young kids from these types of dangers. The Surgeon General says he knows it’s hard – but parents in the meantime should use those parental controls built into the apps and band together and try not to allow their young kids on social media.
Read the study from JAMA here.
