The U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warns parents children 13-years-old and younger are too young to join social media platforms because they're still “developing their identity.”. Cell phoneCell phone .In a CNN interview, Murthy said children should only join social media networks once they are at least 16-years-old..“It’s a time, you know, early adolescence, where kids are developing their identity, their sense of self,” said Murthy. .“It’s a time where it’s really important for us to be thoughtful about what’s going into how they think about their own self-worth and their relationships, and the skewed and often distorted environment of social media often does a disservice to many of those children.”.The biggest social media platforms require a minimum age of 13 already, such as Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter..READ MORE American government considers banning TikTok.Murthy said Big Tech creates “addictive algorithms” and it is not a fair fight between teenagers and Big Tech. .“You have some of the best designers and product developers in the world who have designed these products to make sure people are maximizing the amount of time they spend on these platforms,” said Murthy. .“And if we tell a child, use the force of your willpower to control how much time you’re spending, you’re pitting a child against the world’s greatest product designers. And that’s just not a fair fight. And so that’s why I think our kids need help.”. Guy with mobile phone .Murthy told parents to stop their children from going on social media platforms until they are 16 years or older..“That’s a much more effective strategy in making sure your kids don’t get exposed to harm early,” said Murthy..READ MORE OLDCORN: Parents say no to teenagers addictive smartphones, the ‘dumbphones’ destroying a generation.Earlier this month, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study with 178 12-year-olds from three North Carolina public middle schools and how often they checked Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat..“Our findings suggest checking behaviours on social media in early adolescence may tune the brain’s sensitivity to potential social rewards and punishments,” said University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor and study co-author Dr. Eva Telzer..Dr. Adriana Stacey said the social media algorithms are a “dopamine dump” and that smartphones are as addictive as cocaine..“It tells our brains to keep using that,” said Stacey. .“For teenagers in particular, this part of their brain is actually hyperactive compared to adults. They can’t get motivated to do anything else.”.In January, the Seattle Public School District filed a lawsuit against social media platform owners for allegedly “creating a mental health crisis” and causing a “public nuisance” in their school district..President Joe Biden spoke in his 2022 State of the Union Address about social media platforms harming children and plans to “hold social media platforms accountable for the national experiment they’re conducting on our children for profit.”
