Virginia is taking aim at social media to combat the youth mental health crisis

On Tuesday, Youngkin issued a new executive order directing various department heads, including the Secretary of Health and Human Resources and the Secretary of Education, to disseminate information to parents, teachers and health care providers about the mental health effects of excessive use of social media and cell phones.

“Virginia and the country’s children are facing a youth mental health crisis caused by the effects of unrestricted use of cell phones and addictive social media platforms,” Youngkin said in a press statement. “The scope of this challenge will require all of us, the private sector, nonprofits and government, to support parents as they work to improve their children’s mental health.”

The executive order requires an interagency effort to create Social media and mental health toolkit providing educational and training materials for clinicians, educators and parents to “promote the healthy use of social media”.

The new policy clearly refers to the latest book by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt from New York University, entitled A restless generationwhich links widespread youth use of social media to rising rates of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts in children and teenagers.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Preventionabout 40% high school students in 2023 reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, and almost 20% had an episode of major depression. About 12% of teenagers have considered suicide in the last year, and suicide remains the second leading cause of death for children aged 10 to 14.

The use of social media by children and young people is accompanied by an increase in mental health problems – in 2022, 95% of children aged 13 and over used social media. As of last year, the average teenager spent 4.8 hours every day on seven social media platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X.

Youngkin also founded Childhood Recovery Task Forceconvened by the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, with a mandate to work with community-level organizations in the faith-based, nonprofit and private sectors to “combat mainstream culture and ensure healthy play and learning for our children,” according to the executive order.

“This Executive Order engages each Commonwealth health and child welfare agency in a coordinated awareness campaign to ensure that every Virginia parent has the knowledge needed to protect their children from the unrestricted use of cell phones and active social media to recover childhood and ensure that our future workers, future military and future parents themselves have the best chance of realizing their true potential and purpose,” the executive order reads.

This summer, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy spent advisory finding that parents across the country reported significantly higher levels of stress, loneliness, anxiety and depression than non-parents.

Although financial issues were the most frequently cited cause of parental stress, the surgeon’s overall report also noted difficulties in guiding children and teenagers in using modern technology, which was a cause for concern for parents.

“One thing we’ve heard from mothers and fathers across the Commonwealth is that they are looking for information and guidance on how to make the best choices for their children,” Virginia’s first lady Suzanne Youngkin said in a statement. “The Childhood Recovery Task Force will unite families, experts and communities to create a healthier future for Virginia’s children.”

Five other states, including Colorado, Kentucky, Tennessee, New York and New Jersey, are currently working on legislation similar to Glenn Youngkin’s order that would raise public awareness of the negative consequences of social media and provide schools with evidence-based approaches to improving their environments.