{"id":2572019,"date":"2026-02-20T15:23:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/social-media-addiction-gets-children-hooked-on-dopamine-cycle-early\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T15:25:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:25:19","slug":"social-media-addiction-gets-children-hooked-on-dopamine-cycle-early","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/social-media-addiction-gets-children-hooked-on-dopamine-cycle-early\/","title":{"rendered":"Social media addiction gets children &#8216;hooked&#8217; on &#8216;dopamine cycle early&#8217;"},"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\">20<\/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%2Fsocial-media-addiction-gets-children-hooked-on-dopamine-cycle-early%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=2572019&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--><p>A Washington Examiner piece features Tiana Lowe Doescher arguing that addressing children\u2019s social media addiction should start at home and in schools rather than focusing on tech executives like Mark Zuckerberg.Speaking on Newsmax, she says more attention should be given to the role of families and school districts, suggesting we\u2019re cultivating a \u201cdopamine cycle\u201d early as <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >kids spend extensive time<\/a> behind screens in both settings. The article notes Meta CEO Zuckerberg\u2019s testimony in a trial alleging that social platforms can be habit-forming and discusses safeguards for underage users, including the rule that accounts for users under 13 are supposed to be deleted. Doescher also highlights the growing use of devices in schools and the need for responsible monitoring beyond parents alone. While she acknowledges zuckerberg\u2019s obligation to shareholders and the legal constraints on advertising to minors, she contends that schools and parents share the critical responsibility of limiting children\u2019s exposure to social media.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Social media addiction gets children &lsquo;hooked&rsquo; on &lsquo;dopamine cycle early&rsquo;: Tiana Lowe Doescher<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2511757\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><em>Washington Examiner <\/em>economics columnist <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/author\/tiana-lowe-doescher\/\">Tiana Lowe Doescher<\/a> said that the focus should be on parents at home and even the school district when it comes to children getting addicted to social media.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Perhaps more of us, instead of looking at <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mark-zuckerberg\/\">Mark Zuckerberg<\/a>, should be focusing on the home and the schools,&rdquo; Doescher said on Newsmax&rsquo;s <em>Bianca Across the Nation<\/em> Thursday.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/4461159\/virtual-unreality-good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-review\/\">Virtual unreality<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/4462627\/how-will-current-yellow-journalism-end\/\">Meet the press: How will today&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-will-todays-yellow-journalism-end\/\" title=\"How will today&#039;s yellow journalism end?\">yellow journalism end<\/a>?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/premium\/4458601\/curling-controversy-canada-sweden\/\">Controversy in the courteous world of curling<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<div style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 640px; max-height: 360px; min-width: 320px; min-height: 180px; overflow: hidden;\">\n<div style=\"position: relative; width: 100%; padding-top: 56.25%;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/share.grabien.com\/share?id=3385568&amp;userid=11311&amp;usertype=user&amp;loginid=9421&amp;playercolor=%23000000&amp;playersize=auto&amp;code=5d452d6ba62bc7b61b0dab0129bd1f25\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: 0px;\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Meta CEO <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4461445\/mark-zuckerberg-grilled-meta-targeting-teenagers-social-media-addiction-trial\/\">Mark Zuckerberg testified <\/a>on Wednesday in an ongoing case trial that&rsquo;s accusing social media companies of making their platforms harmfully addictive.&nbsp;It focuses on a claim made by a 19-year-old who said she became addicted to social media and blamed that addiction for her depression and suicidal thoughts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Zuckerberg was grilled on a variety of topics about <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/meta\/\">Meta<\/a>, including the company&rsquo;s safeguards against underage users from accessing its platforms.<\/p>\n<p>Doescher said there is &ldquo;truth&rdquo; that it is the responsibility of parents, not Zuckerberg, to monitor their children&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nbc-news-poll-majority-of-americans-think-social-media-does-more-to-divide-us-than-bring-us-together\/\" title=\"NBC News Poll: Majority Of Americans Think ... Does More To Divide Us Than Bring Us Together\">social media usage<\/a>, despite it not being a &ldquo;popular&rdquo; opinion.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Mark Zuckerberg&rsquo;s responsibility is to his shareholders,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s obviously not allowed to violate the law, and we cannot love if things are advertised to minors, but the fact is that, officially, Facebook and Instagram are supposed to be 13 at minimum to sign up for them.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Facebook and Instagram accounts created for users under 13 years old will be deleted if reported, according to the platforms&rsquo; websites.<\/p>\n<p>Doescher noted that schools are having children spend large amounts of their days behind screens.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4450855\/jury-media-platforms-addiction-case-judge\/\"><strong>JURY CAN KEEP USING PLATFORMS AT CENTER OF SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION CASE: JUDGE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It really is not just up to the parents, but also, I think, really up to these school districts where we see a normalization of not just Chromebooks being sent home with kids, where they spend all day behind a screen in elementary school, but I&rsquo;ve heard of iPads in public schools for kindergartners,&rdquo; Doescher said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So we&rsquo;re getting them hooked on this dopamine cycle early,&rdquo; she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parents, schools key in kids&#8217; social-media addiction<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3984,"featured_media":2572020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26050036797456.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[72039,4294,15055,72171],"class_list":["post-2572019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-addiction-2","tag-children","tag-dopamine","tag-social-media-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26050036797456.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572019","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\/3984"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2572019"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2572023,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572019\/revisions\/2572023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2572020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2572019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2572019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2572019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}