Earlier this week we had the opportunity to talk with parents and teachers at Bonneville Junior High about the harms social media is having on our children and teens.
According to the Mayo Clinic, social media is negatively affecting teens by distracting them, disrupting their sleep, and exposing them to bullying, rumor spreading, unrealistic views of other people's lives and peer pressure. A 2016 study of more than 450 teens found that greater social media use, nighttime social media use and emotional investment in social media, such as feeling upset when prevented from logging on, were each linked with worse sleep quality and higher levels of anxiety and depression.
As a result, we’re exploring a number of policies including making classrooms phone free zones for our students and holding social media companies more accountable by requiring parental controls and parental consent for accounts for minors.
As adults, parents and teachers, it is our responsibility to look out for our children and protect them from the harm social media poses.
Let’s turn up the volume on social media and the negative effects it has on our children.
Listen to our full remarks here.
(This information taken from the weekly email from Office of Gov. Spence Cox)