Pak Sahafat – A senior official of American health affairs, expressing concern about the widespread consequences of presence of teenagers on social networks, emphasized that teenagers joining this space at a young age has destructive effects on the formation of their self-confidence and social relationships.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency’s report from the CNN news network, Meta, Twitter and many other prominent social networks allow teenagers from the age of 13 to join these platforms.
Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general of the United States, who oversees public health services in this country, told CNN in this regard: After observing the data and information in this field, I believe that 13 years old is too early to join these social networks.
He continued: This period is very important because the way young people look at social relationships and their self-confidence is formed at this age, and the distorted environment of social networks harms many of these children.
Acknowledging the difficulties ahead to keep teenagers away from the cyberspace, Murthy suggested to parents: success in this field can be achieved with the integrity of their approach to this issue.
In the continuation of this conversation, referring to the vast investments made by cyberspace giants for advertising and increasing the time users spend on their platforms, the US Surgeon General said: This is not a fair debate.
He clarified: By employing the most expert designers and specialists, these companies seek to maximize the time of using their platforms by strengthening addictive algorithms; now we ask children to try with their willpower to spend less time in this space, which is a battle of inequality.
According to this senior American health official, in this competition, children are facing the world’s greatest designers.
New research shows that visiting social networks out of habit affects and changes the chemical environment of teenagers’ brains.
Many psychiatrists have been warning about this phenomenon in teenagers for years. Adriana Stacey, a psychologist who often works with teenagers and students, previously told CNN that the use of social networks is associated with the release of large amounts of the hormone dopamine in the brain.
Emphasizing that the brain shows a similar reaction when consuming addictive substances such as cocaine, Stacey continued: releasing a large amount of dopamine at once tells the brain to continue using that substance.
According to him, considering that this part of the brain of teenagers is more active compared to adults, it seems impossible to motivate them to do other things.
Recent studies that have examined the harms of excessive use of smart mobile devices with screens, including mobile phones, say: this excessive use in children is associated with poor learning and their speaking ability.