HOUSTON – We’re all a little guilty of mindlessly scrolling on social media but a recent call to action from the U.S. Surgeon General warrants some serious self-reflection.
Dr. Vivek Murthy said in an opinion piece Monday that social media is a contributing factor to young people’s mental health and called for a “warning label,” similar to what you’d find on cigarette boxes.
“It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents. A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe,” Dr. Murthy said. “Evidence from tobacco studies show that warning labels can increase awareness and change behavior.”
This couldn’t happen obviously without congressional action and it’s unclear how that might happen even if there’s bipartisan unity surrounding children’s online safety. There have already been several congressional hearings on online safety as well as legislation in the works. However, these actions would result in pushback from tech companies.
In 2023, Dr. Murthy warned there wasn’t enough evidence to show social media was safe for children and teens but noted in his op-ed piece Monday there are some positives due to having a place for community-building. This sentiment was argued by social media influencers across the country when there were talks of banning TikTok.
One of the influencers KPRC 2 spoke with was Dr. Trevor Boffone, a Houston-based social media manager and educator. During his interview with Bill Spencer, Dr. Boffone broke down how TIkTok was known for a community-building app, noting it’s “not just a place for silly dance challenges.”
In an interview with KPRC 2 digital producer Ahmed Humble on Tuesday, Dr. Boffone reiterated his sentiments but also noted there should be collaborative efforts made where lawmakers bring content creators into conversations about regulations.
“There’s a lot of good things happening on social happening on social media, right? Also in terms of community organizing in so many different ways,” he explained. “So I think there should be conversations about law-making and regulations around social media, but sometimes it feels from a content creator perspective and from the perspective of someone who makes a living off of social media, that these things are not happening earnestly or in a genuine conversation with actual experts.”
This is certainly not to discredit healthcare experts like Child Psychologist Dr. Melanie Gregg, who told KPRC 2 that a warning label could help encourage parents to step in and monitor their children’s activity.
“I do think the warning would be helpful, not so much even for the kids and teens that may read the label, but for the parents to help give parents pause to, to kind of take it a little more seriously that this, this warning is there,” she said. “Because there has been a correlation between too much social media use and the negative mental, health effects. So I do think it could be helpful, especially for the adults that are trying to decide how much, how often, and what types of social media and when their kids are ready for it.”
At the same time, Boffone, who is also an educator and very transparent in his videos about his work in both mediums, argues there needs to be a proper balance. In other words, social media and new technology in general will inevitably play a role in our lives, so why not try and use it to our advantage in a sustainable way?
“Social media is not going to go away,” Dr. Boffone said. “Say this TikTok ban actually happens. We’re not going to all of a sudden not have social media; there will still be Facebook, and Instagram, and they’ll be new apps. In 20 years, we’ll be having the same conversation about a whole different set of apps; and so it’s not that we should just cut it off completely. We really should be thinking about ways to integrate it into our lives in a sustainable way.”
“So in my classroom, I try to model that,” he continued. “We do have fun on social media, we also do the education thing on social media, but there are other times when it’s okay, we’re doing offline things. Our phones are away or my phones away, and we are quite literally doing the traditional classroom thing. But again, technology is here... And so we really need to learn how to work with them, work around them, not just completely shut off technology in the classroom. And so the cell phone is no different. Social media is no different.”
As a digital producer and young(ish) adult, I can attest there is a love/hate relationship I have with social media. On the one hand, my job requires monitoring social media for live news updates but on the other, it’s often the only way I communicate with my loved ones.
I am also not a parent, so I cannot speak to the experience of raising a child in the social-media era but grew up when it was in its beta-testing phase with websites like Xanga and MySpace. The evolution of new technology and social media’s impact has certainly given me pause as a journalist.
With conversations surrounding mental health, it’s also important to be self-aware and recognize when things get out of control and when we can’t, seek help.
Even when I’m off the clock, sometimes I find myself on my phone doing work and if I was a parent, I’m not sure how I’d be able to reconcile not practicing what I preach, even if I don’t view it as an addiction. Even Dr. Boffone admitted he’s guilty of the same and is also not a parent, but believes a warning label might be more reactive than proactive. Instead, it might be better to start working on getting children to take breaks and literally go outside and smell the roses.
“I think limiting is really important for young kids,” he said. “I don’t know that the Surgeon General’s recommendations are the way to go...But I do think we should be looking for ways to sort of regulate and really get kids outside, get them playing again.”