By Diane Parrott, MPH Strategy Director, McCann Global Health
"Mom, when can I get a phone? Ella has one!"
This has become one of the most popular questions from my nine-year-old these days. It’s also the question that most keeps me up at night as a parent trying to strike the careful balance between supporting my child to safely take on more independent use of screens and digital media while protecting him during a very delicate stage of brain development when his identity, self-confidence and life-long habits are taking shape.1
As a world traveler and social scientist, I’ve loved using social media to stay connected with friends and colleagues around the globe as well as to stay on top of important lifestyle and health trends that can be otherwise overlooked (#menotok anyone?). Teens can benefit from social media too with many saying that social media helps them feel more connected, accepted and supported while also providing a creative outlet.2
But as a public health expert and as a parent, I’m alarmed by the growing evidence of its negative impact on children’s mental health. Other parents agree, with half reporting that they are extremely or very concerned about the impact of social media on children’s mental health.3 Their fear is justified. Engaging with social media for over three hours a day puts young people at an increased risk for depression, anxiety or other mental health issues.4 Many feel overwhelmed by online drama, isolated from friends, pressured to post for likes or dissatisfied with their own lives.5 And teens spend a lot of time on social media, with about two thirds using it every day. On average teens spend about three and a half hours a day on social media, but a third of teens say they use it "almost constantly."6
The concern is so significant that in 2024, the U.S. Surgeon General called for a warning label on social media platforms to alert users to its potential harm to adolescent mental health.
So, what can be done?
Social psychologist Johnathan Haight discusses potential solutions in his book "The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness." He recommends children don’t have smartphones until after middle school or social media until they are 16, keeping phones out of schools and giving them more time to be free to play independently.
It’s up to trusted adults like parents, educators, healthcare providers and policymakers to provide guidance and monitoring to help kids to safely navigate this new digital world, but there is a distinct learning curve. Like many other parents of teens, I didn’t have social media until my mid-20s or a smart phone until my early 30s, while 95% of kids today ages 13-17 use social media7 and 75% of kids have their own phone by age 12.5.8 We are all struggling with what to do and need help.
Organizations—whether healthcare brands, public institutions, or foundations—can play a crucial role in addressing this growing public health challenge. Here’s how:
Creating awareness through behavior change campaigns
There is an urgent need to draw attention to the growing problem of social media use among teens and help parents and teens reconsider their current digital habits that may be impacting their health.
Support policy changes
Social media remains largely unregulated, leaving kids vulnerable to unsafe content and barriers to mental health services. Policy solutions could include:
- School-based policies that restrict phone use during school hours. For example, the Safe Technology Use and Distraction-free education Youth or "STUDY Act" is being introduced in Boston to limit phone use in schools from "bell-to-bell."
- Social media platform regulations to combat cyberbullying and promote positive online experiences.
- Policies that reduce stigma about mental health issues in children and adolescents and increase access to prevention and treatment.
Partnering with brands to foster digital well-being
Some brands are stepping up with innovative solutions to help parents and educators manage screen time responsibly:
- Bark is an app that allows children to have digital independence while alerting parents to any potentially dangerous content. Through scans of text messages, social media, browser searches, emails and other online activity, Bark has identified 3.6 million situations of severe self-harm and 5.8 million cases of severe bullying, allowing parents to proactive protect their children from online threats.
- To reduce the negative impact of phones on education, Yondr is partnering with schools in 35 countries to create phone-free learning zones with their lockable pouches. The pouch stays with the student and can be unlocked when leaving the phone-free area, helping the student feel secure, while minimizing distractions. Schools using Yondr see improvements in both student engagement and academic achievement, showing the benefits of removing phones from the learning environment.9
Providing resources to empower parents and teens
Education and community engagement are key to helping families develop healthier digital habits:
- Evelyn Lilly Lutz Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Massachusetts, holds community events to help educators, parents and teens to understand the challenges of social media for teens, learn ways to better communicate with each other about digital use and get strategies to implement at home and in school.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics offers educational resources and tools for clinicians, educators and teens to support families to develop healthier digital and social media habits.
Final thoughts
The digital world isn’t going away, and social media isn’t inherently bad. But as we increasingly recognize its impact on teen mental health, we must take steps to ensure that kids grow up in a way that supports their well-being. Through education, advocacy and innovation, we can help teens navigate this space safely—while still allowing them to connect, create, and thrive.
Resources
1 How social media affects your teen’s mental health: a parent’s guide
2 Teens and social media: Key findings from Pew Research Center surveys
3 New survey explores parent concerns on social media usage and absenteeism
4 Social media and youth mental health
5 Teens and social media: Key findings from Pew Research Center surveys
6 Social media and youth mental health
7 Social media and youth mental health
8 Age that kids acquire mobile phones not linked to well-being, says Stanford Medicine study
9 Yondr: Phone-free schools
