Virginia takes action against social media to combat youth mental health crisis

On Tuesday, Youngkin issued a new executive order directing various department heads, including the secretary of health and human resources and the secretary of education, to disseminate information to parents, educators and health professionals about the mental health effects of excessive social media and of the mobile phone. use.

“Virginia and the nation’s children are facing a youth mental health crisis driven by the effects of unrestricted cell phone use and addictive social media platforms,” ​​Youngkin said in a press statement. “The scope of this challenge will require all of us, the private sector, not-for-profit organizations and government, to be able to support parents as they work to improve their children’s mental health.”

The executive order calls for an interagency effort to create a The Social Media and Mental Health Toolkit to provide educational and training materials for clinicians, educators, and parents to “promote the healthy use of social media.”

The new policy explicitly references New York University social psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s latest book, Anxious generationwhich links the widespread use of social media by young people to rising rates of anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation in children and adolescents.

right Centers for Disease Control and Preventionabout 40% of high school students in 2023 reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, and nearly 20% had a major depressive episode. Around 12% of teenagers have thought about suicide in the past year, and suicide remains the second leading cause of death for children aged 10 to 14.

Social media use among children and teens has paralleled this rise in mental health issues, with 95% of children aged 13 or older reporting that they used social media in 2022. As of last year, the average teen spent 4.8 hours every day on seven social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X.

Youngkin also established The Working Group on Reclaiming Childhoodwhich will be convened by the secretary of health and human resources, with a mandate to work with community-based organizations in the faith, nonprofit and private sectors to “challenge dominant culture and ensure our children play and learn in healthy ways.” according to the executive order.

“This executive order activates every health and child welfare agency in the Commonwealth in a coordinated awareness campaign to ensure that every parent in Virginia has the knowledge they need to protect their children from unrestricted cell phone use and of active social media, to reclaim childhood and ensure that our future workforce, future military and future parents themselves have the best chance to live up to their true potential and purpose,” the executive order says.

This summer, surgeon general Vivek Murthy issued a consultative the claim that parents across the country reported significantly higher levels of stress, loneliness, anxiety and depression than non-parents.

Although the most cited reason for parental stress was financial, the surgeon general’s report also noted the difficulties of guiding children and teenagers in using modern technology as a point of anxiety for parents.

“One thing we’ve heard from moms and dads across the Commonwealth is that they’re looking for information and guidance on how to make the best choices for their children,” Virginia First Lady Suzanne Youngkin said in a statement . “The Childhood Recovery Task Force will unite families, experts and communities to create a healthier future for Virginia’s children.”

Five other states, including Colorado, Kentucky, Tennessee, New York and New Jersey, are currently working on legislation similar to Glenn Youngkin’s executive order, which would raise public awareness of the negative repercussions of social media and provide schools with school-based approaches on evidence to improve their environment.