On Social Media and Youth Mental Health

This week, Caitlin Plant, Program Manager at Distress and Crisis Ontario, shares further information on youth mental health, specifically related to social media use and a recent advisory released by the United States surgeon general. Included in this episode are some concerns, how the youth feel, and advice for parents on navigating social media use for their teens. The sources used in this episode are as follows:

Richtel, M., Pearson, C., & Levenson, M. (2023). “Surgeon General Warns That Social Media May Harm Children and Adolescents”. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/23/health/surgeon-general-social-media-mental-health.html
Barron, J. (2023). “Social Media: What Teenagers Think and What Parents Don’t Know”. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/25/nyregion/social-media-what-teenagers-think-and-what-parents-dont-know.html?searchResultPosition=3
Ramo, D. (2023). “What Parents Need to Know About Teen Social Media Use”. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/from-z-to-alpha/202305/what-parents-need-to-know-about-teen-social-media-use
Chen, B. X. (2023). “What to Know About Limiting Your Child’s Screen Time”. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/24/technology/personaltech/what-to-know-about-limiting-your-childs-screen-time.html?searchResultPosition=4
If you need support for any reason, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your nearest distress centre or ONTX. You can find your closest Member centre at www.dcontario.org/locations and can access ONTX between the hours of 2PM to 2AM daily from any page of our website or by texting SUPPORT to 258258. If you would like to provide feedback on this episode, past episodes, or request future content, you can do so using the following link: https://forms.gle/o8yUPMss6wo8dP1X8. Thank you for listening, we hope you join us again next week.