By Gavin Boyle
Even though they don’t know a world without the internet, roughly half of today’s teens long for life off-line.
“The younger generation was promised technology that would create opportunities, improve access to information and bring people closer to their friends. Yet our research shows that alongside this, it is exposing young people to risk and, in many cases, negatively affecting their quality of life,” said Susan Taylor Martin, Chief Executive at the British Standards Institution, which ran the study.
The study found that 46% of teens would rather live in a world without the internet, and many supported changes to current accessibility through regulations like better enforced age verification or the ability to turn off social media algorithms.
Last summer, the United States Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, called for a surgeon general’s warning to be placed on social media because of the undeniable harm it causes for younger people. The evidence is undeniable that social media is at least partially to blame for the anxiety and depression epidemic that young people across the world face.
“The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor,” Murthy wrote in a New York Times piece last June. “Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours. Additionally, nearly half of all adolescents say social media makes them feel worse about their bodies.”
Related: Why Parents are Saying ‘No’ to Smart Phones for Teens
“It is time to require a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents. A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proven safe,” he continued.
The teens that were a part of the study agreed that changes need to be made at a governmental level. Tech companies have been given free reign for too long and need to be held accountable for the damage they have caused to a generation of kids.
“What they need now is for the adults in charge — governments, regulators, and tech leaders — to step up and meet them there. For too long, the interests of powerful tech companies have been prioritised over the wellbeing of the next generation,” Martin said.
As those most affected by this addictive technology ask for change, hopefully parents and lawmakers will follow through and help protect those born today from the harmful effects that have impacted far too many people already.
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