U.S. Surgeon General: 13-Years-Old Is Too Young to Join Social Media

U.S. U.S. “developing their identity,” Such engagements can lead to a loss of self-respect.

Murthy has been surgeon general under both the Obama administration and the Biden administrations. He shared this warning in an interview. CNNNoting that adolescents should not be allowed to access platforms until they are 16 years old, is a good idea.

“It’s a time, you know, early adolescence, where kids are developing their identity, their sense of self,” Murthy spoke. “It’s a time where it’s really important for us to be thoughtful about what’s going into how they think about their own self-worth and their relationships, and the skewed and often distorted environment of social media often does a disservice to many of those children.”

To join social media giants such as TikTok and Instagram, you must be at least 13 years old.

Murthy noted another issue with addictive algorithms which pit youth against Big Tech.

“You have some of the best designers and product developers in the world who have designed these products to make sure people are maximizing the amount of time they spend on these platforms,” He stated. “And if we tell a child, use the force of your willpower to control how much time you’re spending, you’re pitting a child against the world’s greatest product designers.”

“And that’s just not a fair fight,” He added. “And so that’s why I think our kids need help.”

Published by the American Medical Association, the Journal of the American Medical Association Study The sample included 178 12-year-olds from North Carolina’s three public middle schools. It also examined how often they used social media platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook.

Researchers discovered that people with habitual checking behaviors had hypoactivation in the beginning, but an increase in sensitivity over time. However, nonhabitual people showed increased sensitivity and initial hyperactivation.

“Our findings suggest that checking behaviors on social media in early adolescence may tune the brain’s sensitivity to potential social rewards and punishments,” Dr. Eva Telzer is co-author of this study and a professor of developmental psychology at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

CNN interviewed Dr. Adriana Stacey about her use of social media to share information. “dopamine dump” The addictive nature of smartphones was compared to cocaine.

“It tells our brains to keep using that,” Stacey said. “For teenagers in particular, this part of their brain is actually hyperactive compared to adults. They can’t get motivated to do anything else.”

Surgeon General Murthy called on parents to band together to prevent their children from logging on to social media platforms until they’re at least 16 years old.

“That’s a much more effective strategy in making sure your kids don’t get exposed to harm early,” He stated.

Seattle Public School District officials filed an application Forensic lawsuit TikTok and Facebook were alleged to have intentionally created a mental health crisis for youth. They also caused a public nuisance that affected Seattle Public Schools.

In his 2022 State of the Union Address to Congress, President Joe Biden called attention to social media platforms. He claimed that the damage social media has done to American youth should be a wake-up call for all. “hold social media platforms accountable for the national experiment they’re conducting on our children for profit.”