It seems like everywhere you look there are young children accessing phones, tablets and other forms of advanced technology.
These minors have access to the whole world at their fingertips through various social medias. These sites can pose many dangers to their mental and physical health if they are not aware of said dangers.
This is why N.H. Attorney General and president-elect of the National Association of Attorneys General, John Formella, along with 40 other attorneys general, have elected to urge the United States Congress to require companies to place warnings on their social media websites describing the dangers they pose to the young people accessing them.
Formella stressed in his written letter that N.H. children and families deserve to know the harms these platforms can cause upfront. Much like a carton of cigarettes displays the potential cancer-causing effects the tobacco within provides, these online warning labels would warn of the mental health risks associated with too much screen time.
In an article published by the Keene Sentinel, Formella’s joint letter to Congress is quoted stating, “As State Attorneys General, we sometimes disagree about important issues, but all of us share an abiding concern for the safety of the kids in our jurisdictions and algorithm-driven social media platforms threaten that safety. A growing body of research links young people’s use of those social media platforms to a variety of serious psychological harms, including depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.”
It is true social media and long periods of screen time are harmful for children and adults alike. It is also true that there is little being done to try and curb this problem for the growing youth who are given access to social media at what seems like younger and younger ages each day.
Apps such as Instagram and TikTok, some of the most well-known and popular sites for people of all ages, have already implemented content warnings on videos or pictures that are deemed graphic or harmful to children. Yet this dangerous content is still only a click away behind these warning walls, making the images and videos hauntingly accessible to the small hands intrigued by what may reside behind the blurred screen.
In fact, both TikTok and Meta, which operates Instagram, had lawsuits filed against them by Formella himself this year for, “alleging violations of the state’s consumer protection laws and a failure to address harms posed to children,” according to the Sentinel article.
While the idea to place content warnings on social media sites warning of the dangers they pose to children may seem like a small step in lessening the harm this technology causes the youth, the uproar Formella has raised is already bringing about some good for the future of net-safety for minors. Meta has recently announced they will be removing sensitive and age-inappropriate content from teenagers’ feeds, as well as hosting workshops for parents to inform them of healthy ways to manage their teens’ device usage.
With his urgent letter asking Congress to require these social media companies to display warnings, our N.H Attorney General has joined with nationwide counterparts to raise the alarm and address these current, pressing issues affecting the youth of today.
Just like the warnings on cigarette cartons will not abolish smoking, this small call to action will likely not eradicate the growing number of teens harmed by excessive social media usage, but it is most certainly a step in the right direction.
Kara Montagno can be contacted at
kmontagno@kscequinox.com
