{"id":1936657,"date":"2023-05-24T03:10:22","date_gmt":"2023-05-24T07:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-surgeon-general-issues-advisory-about-kids-use-of-social-media\/"},"modified":"2023-05-24T03:14:57","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T07:14:57","slug":"u-s-surgeon-general-issues-advisory-about-kids-use-of-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-surgeon-general-issues-advisory-about-kids-use-of-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Surgeon General warns about children&#8217;s social media use."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fu-s-surgeon-general-issues-advisory-about-kids-use-of-social-media%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1936657&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>U.S. Surgeon General Warns of Social Media&#8217;s Harmful Effects on Youth Mental Health<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/surgeon-general\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Surgeon General<\/a> Vivek Murthy issued an <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/health\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">advisory<\/a> on Tuesday warning that <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/social-media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> use among minors can severely damage <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/mental-health\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mental health<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/sg-youth-mental-health-social-media-advisory.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">advisory<\/a> notes that social media use is \u201cnearly universal\u201d for young people, but there has never been a robust safety analysis for the technology among minors. This reality comes as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-surgeon-general-issues-advisory-about-kids-use-of-social-media\/\" title=\"Surgeon General warns about children's social media use.\">mental health declines considerably<\/a> among the demographic. Murthy prompted lawmakers, technology companies, and families to take action.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe most common question parents ask me is, \u2018is social media safe for my kids.\u2019 The answer is that we don\u2019t have enough evidence to say it\u2019s safe, and in fact, there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people\u2019s mental health,\u201d Murthy said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/about\/news\/2023\/05\/23\/surgeon-general-issues-new-advisory-about-effects-social-media-use-has-youth-mental-health.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a>. \u201cChildren are exposed to harmful content on social media, ranging from violent and sexual content, to bullying and harassment. And for too many children, social media use is compromising their sleep and valuable in-person time with family and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Some 95% of minors between 13 years old and 17 years old report using social media, while 40% of children between 8 years old and 12 years old said the same despite the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-time-to-end-the-d-c-gerontocracy\/\" title=\"It\u2019s Time to End the D.C. Gerontocracy\">minimum age requirements<\/a> for the platforms. The advisory added that frequent use of the technology is associated with changes in the development of the amygdala, the region of the brain responsible for emotional learning and behavior, as well as the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for impulse control and the moderation of social behavior.<\/p>\n<h3>Children Under 13 Should Not Join Social Media Platforms<\/h3>\n<p>Murthy said in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/u-s-surgeon-general-warns-13-years-old-is-too-young-to-join-social-media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">interview<\/a> earlier this year that children younger than 13 years old should not be able to join social media platforms. \u201cYou 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,\u201d he commented. \u201cAnd if we tell a child, \u2018Use the force of your willpower to control how much time you\u2019re spending,\u2019 you\u2019re pitting a child against the world\u2019s greatest product designers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Members of Congress have indeed noted the addictive properties of social media services and their deleterious effects on mental health. One lawmaker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rubio.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm\/2022\/12\/rubio-gallagher-introduce-bipartisan-legislation-to-ban-tiktok\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">described<\/a> TikTok, presently the most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/leftist-groups-are-reportedly-bribing-influencers-to-peddle-misinformation-for-2022-midterms\/\" title=\"Leftist Groups Are Reportedly Bribing Influencers To Peddle Misinformation For 2022\u00a0Midterms\">popular social media network<\/a> for young people, as \u201cdigital fentanyl,\u201d a reference to the addictive characteristics of the limitless stream of vertical videos offered by the platform.<\/p>\n<h3>TikTok&#8217;s Impact on Youth Mental Health<\/h3>\n<p>Children and teenagers spent an average of 99 minutes per day on TikTok as of two years ago, far exceeding the amount of time spent on other rivals, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2022\/07\/13\/kids-and-teens-watch-more-tiktok-than-youtube-tiktok-91-minutes-in-2021-youtube-56\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">data<\/a> from Qustodio.<\/p>\n<p>TikTok, which currently faces additional regulatory <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/extraordinary-and-unprecedented-tiktok-sues-montana-over-statewide-ban\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pressure<\/a> due to the company\u2019s ownership by a Chinese technology firm, recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/tiktok-creates-new-default-time-limit-for-users-under-18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced<\/a> measures that will prompt young users to create a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tiktok-ceo-swears-company-is-not-an-agent-of-china\/\" title=\"TikTok CEO Swears Company Is \u2018Not An Agent Of China\u2019\">daily screen time limit<\/a> if they spend more than 100 minutes on the platform each day. Parents and guardians will be permitted to more easily view screen time on a dashboard and customize limits for their children based on school schedules, holidays, and other commitments.<\/p>\n<p>American officials have also noted that Chinese authorities seem to <a href=\"https:\/\/mp.weixin.qq.com\/s\/zp43DhzwanDApoPCIgCvJQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">understand<\/a> the effects of TikTok: children under 14 years old who use Douyin, the version of TikTok available in China, are only permitted 40 minutes of screen time each day and cannot access the platform at night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>with potential risks to their well-being.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":1936658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[5560,4188,5127,6890,10426,3633],"class_list":["post-1936657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire","tag-childrens","tag-media","tag-social","tag-surgeon","tag-use","tag-warns"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1936657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1936657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1936657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1936658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1936657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1936657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1936657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}