SOCIAL MEDIA HURTS KIDS’ MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH: In our current digital age, social media usage by kids and teens has become directly correlated with negative effects on their mental and physical health. This is plainly obvious to most parents of teenagers, who are constantly comparing themselves to the carefully curated images their peers have posted and internalizing unattainable standards they see from so-called “influencers.” Even as most social media apps claim users must be 13 years or older to have accounts, the reality is that nearly 40% of children ages 8 to 12 years old have already been exposed to some form of social media. At these young and impressionable ages, children are more susceptible to the dangers of social media – including but not limited to the proven toll these apps regularly take on their physical and mental health.
Reports show that teenagers who spend more than three hours a day on social media have a heightened risk of depression and anxiety. For example, TikTok has been shown to expose new users to content that promotes suicide within minutes of them logging onto the app to watch short videos. These dangerous algorithms have real and devastating consequences: In 2022, 14-year-old Dexton Obray died by suicide after being served self-harm content across different social media apps. Earlier this year, his parents took legal action against TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube following his death. Unfortunately, Dexton wasn’t an isolated incident. In June 2020, 16-year-old Carson Bride also took his own life after being cyberbullied via social media by anonymous classmates. And last fall, a 10th grader from Massachusetts died after ingesting a high amount of chili pepper extract as part of a viral “spicy tortilla chip challenge” on social media.
In a significant step towards progress, this week the U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which takes meaningful steps to protect children from social media’s negative effects. KOSA enacts further regulations on big tech companies, like establishing a legal obligation known as a “duty of care” to take reasonable protections against promotion of potentially harmful content (illegal products, eating disorders, tobacco or alcohol, substance abuse, bullying, and sexual abuse) for children and teenagers. It requires them to protect children from dangerous online content and forces these companies to accept liability for the negative outcomes their platforms often create. The bill makes it mandatory for social media platforms to provide minors with options to protect their information, disables addictive product features, opts kids out of personalized algorithmic recommendations, and limits child chat features.
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TOP YOUTUBE STAR MR BEAST FACES BACKLASH AS TRANSGENDER CO-HOST STEPS DOWN AMID GROOMING ALLEGATIONS: Ava Kris Tyson left the popular YouTube channel MrBeast after being accused of sending inappropriate messages to a minor. Read more here.
DISNEY, CARTOON NETWORK, NICKELODEON CREATOR KYLE CARROA CHARGED WITH POSSESSION OF CHILD PORN: Kyle Carrozza, a creator for Disney, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon, was arrested for possession of child pornography. Read more here.
WHITE HOUSE WALKS BACK SOME GENDER TRANSITION RECOMMENDATIONS FOR KIDS: In a statement, The White House appeared to walk back its support of transgender surgeries for kids, while still supporting other kinds of transgender care like puberty blockers for children to continue. Despite the shift, the White House continues to endorse other forms of gender transition for youth. Read more here.
Thanks for reading the latest edition of the American Parents Coalition’s The Lookout. If you have a troubling story to share about a school, doctor, company, or other institution working to usurp parents’ rights, please let us know by emailing us at [email protected].
