“Companies like it TikTok, YouTube, Facebook They are fueling a mental health crisis by designing their platforms with addictive and dangerous featuresMayor Eric Adams said during the annual State of the City of New York address.
“We cannot stand by and let big tech companies make money off our children’s privacy.” said Adams, who referred to social media in general as “threats to the mental health” of minors, citing a report from the city’s Department of Mental Health.
An earlier study by the department in June this year surveyed 150 participants who said social media was undermining their self-esteem, social relationships and their ability to manage their time effectively.
Do not give mobile phones to children
The report contains advice for teachers, lecturers and parents, including, for example, calls not to give children a mobile phone until the age of 14, to switch off social networks from the first mobile phones and to limit the use of phones during free hours.
Adams compared the effect of social media on young people to that of tobacco and guns in the past, “And we’re going to treat social networks the same way: as a new health threat that must stop. We must ensure that technology companies take responsibility for their products,” the mayor said in his State of the City address.
It is not clear what this designation will translate into or what tools the mayor’s office has to crack down on social networks, which today are owned by the country’s most powerful corporations, such as big tech companies.
Social media companies are fueling a mental health crisis, especially for our young people. But we won’t let Big Tech endanger our children.@NYCHealthCommr Vasan today issues an advisory officially designating social media as an environmental toxin in New York City. #SOTC2024 pic.twitter.com/8Rddkzr1hM
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) January 24, 2024
Desperation among teenagers
The Mental Health report on which Adams relied states that 77% of secondary school students spend three hours or more a day in front of a screen in their spare time, and while it did not find a direct cause, it was a reminder that In 2021, a study found that 38% of high school students had feelings of despair that led them to stop their usual activities.
Between 2011 and 2021, the number of teens who felt “hopeless” increased by 42%, while the number of teens who showed suicidal tendencies grew by 38%. (JO)
Source: Eluniverso
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