The American Federation of Teachers is saying in a report that social media is the root cause of the nationwide youth mental health crisis.
“Because of social media, and there’s research for this, we are seeing students be more depressed, have more anxiety,” said Jeff Freitas, president of the California Federation of Teachers. The report makes a series of recommendations and reforms that tech companies should take to keep kids safe including:Stopping phone notifications during the school dayAllowing students the choice to turn off or reset recommendation algorithms
“Many of those algorithms get them going down a more narrow and narrow path on a particular subject,” said Freitas. “That is not helpful or healthy for the students.” It comes two months after the U.S. surgeon general warned that social media use is a main contributor to depression, anxiety and other mental health problems in kids.