Surgeon General Calls for Social Media Warning Labels Amid Teen Mental Health Crisis

Dr. Vivek Murthy:

Look, this is a really difficult time for parents across the country.

Many of us are trying to figure out how to manage these technologies that we didn't grow up with and that have profound impacts on our children's health and well-being. And it’s true – so far what really hurts me is that all the burden of dealing with this has been placed on the shoulders of parents and their children. And that's just not right.

What I plan to do with my kids first and foremost is wait until at least after middle school for them to use social media. And then I'll re-evaluate when they're in high school, based on their maturity, the safety data and whether or not there are safety standards.

For parents whose children are already on social media, what I recommend is creating technology-free zones in their children's lives, to protect sleep, in-person interactions and physical activity , which are vital for their development.

This could be making mealtimes, when you're all together, technology-free experiences, or making sure you take devices off an hour before bed and then put them back on in the morning. This protects the quality and quantity of sleep.

But regardless of all these measures, Amna, what we need to do as parents is to support each other in this. We need to work together, start talking about it more openly, so we don't feel the shame that so many parents feel of not being able to handle this alone.