In a recent interview with CNN, the United States Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, was asked about teenagers on social media. He shocked hosts by saying that he believed that 13 was too young to be on social media. He said, “Based on the data I’ve seen, I believe that 13 is too early… 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."
On top of the social concerns about teenagers being on social media, parents also should be concerned about exposure, exploitation and abuse. Since acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk has made it clear that ridding the platform of child-pornography and abuse is his top priority. But this has proven to be quite the task, as Musk is still working on completely ridding Twitter of the inappropriate content.
Similarly, nearly every social media platform features content that is not suitable for children. This is why parents should look into adding filters or other safeguards against inappropriate content, even though they may not be 100% effective. Parents have a lot to consider when determining when to allow children to have various social media accounts. That's why we have created a resource on the importance of creating your own family media plan!