SAFETY TIP OF THE WEEK

Set healthy boundaries with social media apps that can have the most negative impacts on your kids, especially if they have access to their phones at bedtime.

TODAY’S TOPIC

The Pros and the Caveats of Teen Smartphone Use

If you didn’t grow up with a smartphone, you probably find yourself feeling a little bewildered or frustrated by the ways that kids seem to depend on smartphones. You probably remember the first mobile device you ever got; the world seemed to open up, and your cell phone quickly became an everyday necessity. But making phone calls and texts, with limited service and limited minutes, doesn’t have the same dangers and pitfalls of constant access to the internet and social media. 

Axios reports on a study done at the University of South Florida which has some interesting implications. The study found that among 8,000 teens, children were less likely to feel depressed or isolated if they had access to a smartphone. This held true across income brackets, which means that family wealth is not a huge contributing factor to the outcome of the study. However, they noticed a trend that did have a greater impact on mental health: children’s engagement on social media. Kids who posted publicly more often were more likely to experience anxiety and depression. Similarly, kids who had access to their phones unsupervised during bedtime were more likely to have negative mental health impacts from smartphone use.

_{WHAT CAN YOU DO?}

There are positive outcomes from using smartphones that shouldn’t be ignored when managing kids’ online behaviors and mental health. The technology is not evil in and of itself, but how we use it can have real consequences for kids’ mental health. Below are some helpful tips for managing your children’s online tools so that they can get the most out of them without overindulging:

• Set Bedtime Boundaries for Smartphone Use: We’ve all experienced those wakeful nights where we can’t quite fall asleep, so we doom scroll Instagram or TikTok. What we see on those apps and how the apps’ algorithms respond to our engagement can take us on an emotional roller coaster. Limit your child’s access to their smartphone during unsupervised hours, or limit specific app usage with time limit settings. 

• Have Honest Conversations about Social Media Dangers with Your Kids: Because social media apps are often free to use, we can take them for granted as a fun service to connect us. The reason they are free is because the users are the product: social media companies want your information and engagement so they can sell to advertisers and other buyers. Remind your child that the apps are designed to make them feel emotional so that they engage more, and they are not interested in supporting their well-being. 

• Model the Way: Kids will feel less inclined to listen to their parents about technology if their parents don’t practice what they preach. Make sure that you are modeling healthy behaviors on social media for your child. 

Connection is an important part of developing positive mental health. Smartphones can help us make those connections, not only as tools for managing those connections, but also as social status indicators. Pressure from their peers can play a large role in how they view themselves in their school or social communities, just as it always had. Encouraging your kids to minimize their social media use can help them use these tools to make positive connections with their peers.

▶ Slang Word of the Week: “MOG” v. – MOG is an acronym for “man of God,” and it is used when one person surpasses or overshadows someone in status or physical appearance.