Social Media and Mental Health in Children and Teens
With care, attention, and informed action, children can learn to use technology not as a cage but as a tool for growth, connection, and discovery. Straight Talk Communications columnist Gowhar Bhat deliberates upon the issue with his expert opinion.
Gowher Bhat
In the valleys of Kashmir, where mountains rise like silent sentinels and rivers carve their paths quietly, a different kind of strain settles on the youth. Social media has arrived in their lives like a storm that cannot be tamed. It brings endless connections and information, yet leaves behind a quiet pressure on their minds. The platforms that once promised friendship and learning now carry comparison, distraction, and worry. Young minds scroll through feeds without pause, their attention pulled in every direction, their sense of self shaped by likes and comments, by images that seem perfect but are never quite real. A study by the World Health Organization shows a rise in problematic social media use among adolescents, climbing from seven percent in 2018 to eleven percent in 2022, and with it a rise in mental health challenges. The pressures of daily life are layered with the invisible currents of the digital world. Anxiety, sadness, and behavioral difficulties are becoming more common. Doctors and counselors speak quietly about the children who cannot sleep, who withdraw from friends, who seem lost even in a room full of people.
Research from the University of California, San Francisco, found that as preteens used social media more, depressive symptoms increased, yet the reverse did not occur. Those who were already depressed did not automatically increase their social media use. The platforms themselves shape moods and expectations. They create cycles of comparison and isolation. Excessive screen time disrupts sleep. It reduces physical activity. It blurs the boundaries between real life and the online world. The American Academy of Pediatrics warns that recreational screen time for children older than six should be limited to two hours a day, yet few homes manage to set such limits in practice. Smartphones are everywhere, in the hands of children and teens at all hours, often closer than a parent’s comforting hand. They are a portal to entertainment, news, education, and distraction. They are also a mirror reflecting desires and insecurities.
Parents face a quiet, difficult challenge. Experts say balance is key. Children need space to explore, to learn, to communicate, but they also need boundaries. Families are encouraged to talk openly about what children see online, how it makes them feel, and how to navigate the world beyond the screen. Parents must model this behavior too, putting down their own devices, showing that the digital world should not take over life. Some regions are beginning to intervene. California, for example, passed a law requiring social media platforms to display health warning labels for users under eighteen, alerting young people and their families to risks including anxiety, body dysmorphia, and disrupted sleep. These interventions recognize that protecting mental health is not only the responsibility of families but of society as a whole.
Children encounter content that adults often do not notice. A report by Internet Matters found that more than half of children accessing news via TikTok or Instagram encounter violent or distressing material, including accidents or crises, often without seeking it. Almost forty percent of these children felt extreme distress after seeing such content. A child scrolling through a phone is not just playing or socializing. The child is absorbing information that can overwhelm and confuse. Exposure to global news and online content creates stressors that few adolescents are equipped to manage alone.
Still, social media is not inherently harmful. It is a tool, and like any tool, its effect depends on how it is used. Platforms provide access to learning, community, and creative expression. Children can connect with peers across the world, engage in educational content, and find support networks they might not have locally. But when use goes unchecked, the scales tip. The benefits get lost in anxiety, insecurity, and fatigue. Experts agree supervision, guidance, and open communication are essential. Parents can help children set schedules, choose appropriate content, and reflect on their experiences online. Schools and communities can teach about healthy use and coping strategies. Policy interventions can help, but at home, conversation and trust matter most.
The valleys may be quiet, but inside homes, children’s minds are restless. Their experiences online echo in their thoughts and moods, in how they interact with family, with friends, and with themselves. In one counseling session, a teenager said she often compared her life to influencers, feeling inadequate despite loving parents and supportive teachers. Another spoke of sleepless nights scrolling, unable to disconnect even when she wanted to. The stories are different, but the pattern is the same: a generation growing up entwined with screens, learning about life not just from people around them but from curated images, videos, and fleeting messages.
It is easy to call social media a threat or a danger, yet that view misses the nuance. The challenge is not merely to limit use but to teach navigation, resilience, and awareness. Children need to feel the tangible warmth of family and friends. They need to run outdoors, to play, to read, and to imagine beyond the screen. They need adults who listen without judgment, who notice distress early, and who provide alternatives that are engaging, fulfilling, and real. Technology cannot be eradicated. It is part of life. But its impact can be guided. Its risks can be mitigated. Its benefits can be enhanced when families, schools, and society work together.
In the mountains and valleys, young lives continue to unfold, shaped by both the physical world and the virtual one. Social media is here to stay, yet it need not dictate moods or limit possibilities. With care, attention, and informed action, children can learn to use technology not as a cage but as a tool for growth, connection, and discovery. In the quiet moments, when a child sets down a phone and looks around at the world beyond the screen, there is hope. The mind can find peace. The heart can find its rhythm. The challenge is great, but so is the potential.
