Alicia Connected

On March 1st of 2023, TikTok announced that they will release a new feature that will set a 60 minute time limit for users under 18 years of age. Once the time limit has been reached, the user will be required to enter a password to allow them to continue. Although this is not a panacea for some of the troubles that many young viewers face, it is a step in the right direction for the roughly 100 million users on the platform in the United States. According to a Pew Research Center survey, teenagers between the ages of 13-17 saw their usage of the TikTok platform skyrocket. Some 67% of teens say the currently use TikTok, while 16% of them say they use it constantly. To further break down the usage, according to Pew teen girls are likely to use TikTok and similar platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, compared to boys their age who are drawn more to YouTube, Twitch, and Reddit.

The research also shows that 35% of teens say they are using at least one of the platforms constantly with TikTok and Snapchat leading the usage. Looking at the amount of time that is spent, when asked, slightly more than half of teens say that they are spending the right amount of time on the platforms, and a little more than a third say they spend too much time. Only 8% say they spend too little time. Additionally, when asked about giving up social media, girls are more likely than boys to say that giving up on it would be at least difficult with 54% of all teens saying it would be somewhat hard.

Taking social media and the specific apps out of the equation, teens have more access to devices, technology, and the internet at an increasing rate. The vast majority of teens, some 95%, have at least access to a smartphone. 90% have access to a desktop or laptop, and 80% have access to a gaming device. This opens the door to yet another stark statistic. The amount of teens who are online constantly has gone from 24% in 2014 to 46% in 2022.

Why are these statistics important? These platforms and the ready access to the internet means that more teens are exposed to critical commentary, material that is harmful, bullying, and other types of online material that would be considered inappropriate for any reasonable person. This has a large impact on the mental health of the user of these platforms. Particularly young girls. The CDC released a report in early 2023 that showed that sadness and hopelessness among high school girls was at 60% with 25% of high school girls admitting to making a suicide plan. In the same report, the CDC found that 16% of high school students were bullied electronically through an online platform or texting. Once again, girls were more likely than boys to be the target of the bullying.

While this data is not much of a surprise to parents who have children growing up in this digital environment, for many parents who are getting ready to start down this path there may be plenty of questions. It's nearly impossible to shield your kids from online activities. Especially as we continue to integrate our every aspect of our lives with technology. As with anything, there are good ways to utilize technology to stay in touch with distant friends and relatives, share memories, create content, and have entertainment at your fingertips. However, the pitfalls and examples of where this technology can go wrong are plentiful. Most of these social media platforms have no interest in turning them off or reducing their user base. This was apparent at Facebook where a prominent whistleblower came forward in late 2021 about Facebook's blatant disregard for clear data on the impacts of the platform on the mental health of children.

So while the time limits proposed and built into the TikTok platform are helpful, there is a lot of work ahead of parents, teens, and young children. As parents, we cannot rely on the platforms to do what we might believe is the "right thing". We have to empower ourselves, and our children to take the necessary steps to ensure that we guard our own mental health.

Here are some basic tips to consider:

• Take a technology cleanse periodically. This can be for a few hours a week, a whole day, or even a whole week or month.
• Turn of notifications on apps so that you can choose a time to look at your device rather than your app choose for you.
• Set screen time limits on the device (not just your apps)
• Disable only the apps that are actively being used.
• Play "hide the phone". Yep....lose your phone on purpose once in a while. This is as simple as choosing to leave your phone behind when you go somewhere.
• Find some non-technology related activities that you enjoy.

Technology is here to stay. Our role as parents is to provide a safe environment for our children to grow and learn. While the statistics can be unsettling, they are not a foregone conclusion. Have conversations with your children about their usage and concerns over their own mental health as it relates to their relationship to the technology and platforms they are using. Help starts with a conversation.