Surgeon general warns 13 is too young for children to be on social media

January 30th 2023

by New York Post

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned that children join social media too early and believe they should only be allowed to access the platforms once they’re between 16 and 18.

Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Twitter currently allow users to join as long as they are at least 13 years old.

Murthy believes this can cause adolescents to have a “distorted’ sense of self during their crucial developmental years.

“I, personally, based on the data I’ve seen, believe that 13 is too early,” Murthy said on CNN. “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

urthy suggested that teenagers on social media will become “hypersensitive” to criticism as adults.

Social media use for teenagers has sparked much concern among medical professionals following research that suggests links between social media and depression among the youth.

Murthy understands it will be challenging to keep children off these platforms, given the apps’ growing popularity among peers, but believes parents should stand their ground to help protect their children.

“If parents can band together and say you know, ‘As a group, we’re not going to allow our kids to use social media until 16 or 17 or 18’ or whatever age they choose, that’s a much more effective strategy in making sure your kids don’t get exposed to harm early,” he told CNN.

Murthy, who has served as surgeon general under both the Obama and now the Biden administrations, warns that children may be more susceptible to developing insecurities and will be accessible to bullies if they are on the platforms at too early an age.

The 19th and 21st US surgeons general told a heartbreaking story of a mother who visited him in his office and told him about the tragic suicide of her 11-year-old daughter after she was “mercilessly” cyberbullied on social media.

Her daughter had started using social media, had seven accounts on three different platforms, was mercilessly bullied, unfortunately, by people on these platforms, struggled to get off of these but could not.”

JAMA Pediatrics published a study earlier this month arguing that social media is reprogramming the brains of adolescents.