LDS Leaders, Experts Offer Conflicting Advice on Teen Social Media Use

Latter-day Saint teenagers working to convince their wary parents to allow them to use social media have powerful allies: the leaders of their faith.

From President Russell M. Nelson and the Senior Apostles to the former president of the worldwide Young Women organization, senior leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have repeatedly called for years young people using technology to spread good. word and help gain converts.

“Now,” wrote the late Apostle M. Russell Ballard in the 2021 For the Strength of Youth magazine, “may I ask you to join the conversation by participating on the Internet, especially with social media , to share the Gospel and explain in simple and clear terms the message of restoration.

What researchers say about the effects of teen social media use: Not so fast.

Clinicians, academics, educators, and even U.S. Surgeon General and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox have closed ranks in recent years against platforms they say are fueling a mental health epidemic which affects American youth.

“…These companies,” Cox, himself a Latter-day Saint, recently warned, “are killing our children.” »

Caught between such different orientations, faithful Latter-day Saint parents must decide for themselves which voices of authority to prioritize on a subject where they are told the stakes – saving souls or lives – could not be more students.

What LDS Church leaders say about teens and social media

Not all Latter-day Saint leaders demonstrate the same level of enthusiasm when it comes to social media. Indeed, some have cautioned against spending time on the technology, while others have tempered their encouragement by warning of its potential dangers.

Nonetheless, the overarching message, especially when speaking to young people, remains: God needs your posts, pins, and shares.

A year after Ballard's article, For the Strength of Youth, then-Young Women president Bonnie Cordon echoed a similar call to action in the same publication. Writing not only about social media but also about internet use in general, she said: “By using technology for good, you will be an important part of the Lord's battalion as it strives to bring Israel together. The world needs your goodness and the light of the Lord!

The key, to which she and others return again and again, is moderation.

In an article in For the Strength of Youth 2023, a Latter-day Saint teenager described how his decision to join social media at age 10 precipitated a “cycle of self-loathing and addiction.” At the age of 14, he began considering suicide.

The intervention of parents and caring Church leaders prevented the worst, and today the author writes: “I have built a social media platform that I can use for good. »

This idea that social media, when managed well, can have a positive influence on the lives of adolescents is echoed in Taking Charge of Technology, a pamphlet aimed at young people that encourages readers to always have a goal and a purpose. clear plans when using technology.

The Salt Lake Tribune contacted a Church spokesperson, asking whether experts were involved in producing the pamphlet, as well as whether recent research had raised concerns at Church headquarters about it. No response was provided.

Research on social networks and adolescents

Although some studies suggest that minors – particularly marginalized people – can benefit from online support communities found on social media, there remains a consensus that the harms far outweigh the benefits in the majority of cases. .

“…The current body of evidence indicates that while social media may have benefits for some children and adolescents,” the U.S. Surgeon General nicely summarized in a 2023 report, “there are many indicators that social media may also pose a significant risk of harm to the mental health and well-being” of these same people.

According to the report, these possible harms include depression, self-harm, eating disorders, poor sleep, exposure to predators, cyberbullying, attention problems, low self-esteem and suicide .

“Furthermore,” the report adds, “some researchers believe that exposure to social media may overstimulate the reward center of the brain and, when stimulation becomes excessive, may trigger pathways comparable to addiction.”

Not all young people are equally at risk, according to the American Psychological Association's health advisory on minors and social media. The advisory states that “the effects of social media likely depend on what adolescents can do and see online,” their maturity level, the amount of time spent on different platforms and their home environment.

However, as the report points out, users only control so much of their social media experience before the algorithms designed to hook them take over.

Meanwhile, research indicates that large unknowns remain, including the long-term consequences of social media use in adolescence and the best strategies to protect adolescents who use this technology.

Compare recommendations

So what should children and parents do? Of course, the answer depends on who you ask.

The Taking Charge of Church Technology brochure provides the following guidelines for young people engaging in social media:

• Set a daily limit for screen time.

• Interact only with close family and friends.

• Have device-free zones at home.

• Set up a family charging station.

• Use a content filter.

Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University, takes an even more aggressive stance. In his bestselling book “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Driving an Epidemic of Mental Illness,” Haidt lays out the following ground rules:

• No smartphone before high school.

• No social media before 4 p.m.

• No phones or other internet-connected devices at school.

This, coupled with “much more unsupervised play and childhood independence”, is the best way for young people to “naturally develop social skills, overcome anxiety and become independent young adults”, he writes.

Utah governor weighs in

In 2023, Utah became the first state in the country to pass laws restricting how minors can use social media applications. The governor signed two bills: one aimed at regulating when and how the state's youth can use technology, and another to prevent companies from designing addictive features.

” Governor. Cox and I both believe that social media is not suitable for minors,” said Aimee Winder Newton, senior adviser to the Republican leader and director of the administration’s Office of Families. “There aren't enough guardrails in place…for any of us to say it's safe for [those under 18] of any form.”

Telling a teenager today that they won't have access to social media until they are old enough to vote is a daunting task. But Winder Newton said Cox “practices what he preaches.”

The governor's 17-year-old daughter, Winder Newton said, is not present on social media.

“Parents know it’s not good for their children,” she said. “I don’t know if parents understand the extent of the harm that can occur. Everyone wants to think their child is exempt, and that's simply not the case.

Editor's note • This article is about suicide. If you or someone you know is at risk of self-harm, call or text 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or chat at 988Lifeline.org.

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