Surgeon General Warns That Social Media May Harm Children And Adolescents

Social media is something we all use without thought. But is it good for young adolescents to use on a regular basis? I recently read the article titled "Surgeon General Warns that Social Media May Harm Children and Adolescents." From The New York Times Company by Matt Richtel, Catherine Pearson, and Michael Levenson. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy explains why he thinks that social media should have labels on them. To protect children and adolescents from the dangers of social media influence on a young child or adolescent brain. Dr. Vivek states in his article that children are part of an ongoing experiment. Meaning how are they going to turn out being exposed to all that they are on social media? As I have read in our text about the ecology of socialization: That children are

Parents use many ways to socialize a child about community, culture, religion, etc. One of these ways might be using an observational method, such as modeling. This is when a kid sees and does. What happens if a kid sees something not meant for their age group? The article discusses this topic as well. Stating that content on social media can be dangerous pushes ideas like normalizing eating issues, the harming of oneself, and other social issues. The article states that social media is extremely dangerous for children because their brains haven’t yet developed, making them easily influenced when it comes to things like others opinions or comparisons of themselves. This article made me think about the outcomes of socialization if we don’t put labels on social media. Are kids going to grow up with the same values, attitudes, motives, self-esteem, or morals? With what I have learned from this article, I think not. These children are being exposed to idea’s their tiny little brains can’t handle/ understand. They are experiencing socioeconomic status, not just at school or in the local