Social Media and Youth: Experts Warn of Mental Health Risks

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Australia has become the first country to ban children under the age of 16 from accessing social media platforms.

Several other countries have considered or introduced similar measures, while countries such as Canada are working on their own legislation.

Governments are also holding regional discussions about how best to protect young people online.

However, experts say the issue is not social media itself, it’s how the technology is used.

While social media is not a chemical substance, experts say some of its features can encourage behavior that resembles addiction because of the way they interact with the brain.

Each scroll, like, or notification can trigger the release of dopamine, a neurochemical associated with reward and pleasure.

Medical professionals have also identified a link between excessive social media use and poor mental health, including anxiety, depression, social isolation and other psychological concerns.

Alphanique Swann-Newbold – COO, The Walk-In Clinic

“People constantly lived with bad things but constantly seeing it every time you turn on or go on social media, seeing someone attacked by a dog, child being kidnapped, somebody being killed. So you’re seeing this all the time; it has implications on your brain chemistry which will directly affect your mental health. If it affects us as adults imagine what it’s doing to your kids.”

Swann-Newbold says her concerns are also personal.

She recently studied the impact social media can have on children, not only as part of her professional responsibilities but also as a mother.

Alphanique Swann-Newbold – COO, The Walk-In Clinic

“I’ve seen it where the children, they’ll say you come with your tumblr, that’s not a stanley, your tumblr, maybe more expensive than the stanley to maintain this whole aesthetic “

She also warns about the potential for exploitation.

Swann-Newbold says parents must remain informed about who their children are communicating with and the content they are being exposed to online.

Alphanique Swann-Newbold – COO, The Walk-In Clinic

“Some of the kids, they are forming the WhatsApp groups and some of the conversations; you look at the WhatsApp and I’ve seen myself where these nine and ten year olds are in WhatsApp groups with sixteen and seventeen year olds, and the conversations are not appropriate for that wide age range.”

She’s also urging parents to take proactive steps to monitor their children’s online activity.

Alphanique Swann-Newbold – COO, The Walk-In Clinic

“If the parents are allowing these children unfeathered access to talk with their friends whenever they want or be on social media without any kind of supervision, you’re asking for problems.”