13-year-olds are too young to join social media, surgeon general says
Abigail Adcox
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Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said he believes that 13 years old is “too early” for children to join social media platforms, citing how it could be harmful to their self-perceptions and their relationships with others at that age.
Murthy noted children at that age are still “developing their identity” and that social media could skew their views of their own self-worth and relationships in an appearance on CNN Newsroom.
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“I, personally, based on the data I’ve seen, believe that 13 is too early,” Murthy told the outlet. “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 media often does a disservice to many of those children.”
Murthy, who has two children of his own, suggested that parents and guardians join a pact to keep children off social media until 16, 17, or 18 or “whatever age they choose,” though he said that it was hard to do given social media’s popularity among that age group.
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms allow people 13 years and older to join, create their own profiles, and share content.
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New research suggests that checking social media platforms frequently may be associated with changes in the brain chemistry in children.
A study published in JAMA Pediatrics this month found that among sixth and seventh graders, those who habitually checked Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat had increased neural sensitivity in portions of their brains, leaving them more sensitive to social consequences.