NYC’s top doctor says kids shouldn’t get phones before age 14

Social media has become such a threat to children that the city’s health commissioner recommends parents not give their children cellphones until they are 14.

Pediatricians should also make talking to parents and children about social media part of their checkups, says Big Apple Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan.

“Teens who use social media are at greater risk of experiencing poor mental health, including symptoms of depression and anxiety,” Vasan and the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Chief Medical Officer Michelle Morse wrote in a letter on 5 September addressed to doctors and other medical professionals. .

“Recommend that parents and guardians delay giving children a smartphone, or similar device that can access social media, until age 14, and then reassess based on current evidence of harm and strengths and needs of the child,” the message said.

“As children begin to travel more independently in NYC, require parents to start children with a phone that does not have the ability to access social media,” the department’s documents added.

Pediatricians should also discuss the dangers of overexposure to smartphones and social media with parents and their children as part of a “family media plan” to curb or stop use, according to the letter.

Governor Kathy Hochul is pushing to ban smartphones in schools and is currently conducting a “listening tour” to see how it can be done.

She and the state legislature passed a law in June to give parents more control over social media use on apps like TikTok and Instagram.

The city’s top doctors, in their letter, cited statistics showing local youth are more depressed than a decade ago and suggested social media addiction could be a culprit.

In 2021, 38% of inner-city high school students felt so sad or hopeless in the past year that they didn’t engage in their usual activities, compared with 27% in 2011, according to the Behavioral Survey. the danger of the city’s youth.

Preoccupation with death – suicidal ideation – increased by more than 34% among this group from 2011 to 2021, the survey found.

Social media use has become commonplace for many people: 54% of children, 93% of teenagers and 78% of parents use some form of social media, the Department of Health said, citing its special report on social media.

Children who use social media experience higher levels of anxiety (16%) than children who do not (12%).

Teens who use social media experience anxiety (27%) and depression (14%) at higher levels than teens who don’t (9% and 4%, respectively).

Many adults are more stressed after repeatedly checking their smartphones, a recent University of Michigan study found.

Some adults are not good role models – even inattentive – while engrossed in scrolling on their phones.

A Post reporter at a Queens gym on Saturday saw three clients sitting in their seats on a row of weight machines, their heads down looking at their smartphones and scrolling through information, slowing down their exercise regimen.

The city’s top doctors urged their colleagues to share resources with patients, such as The city Department of Education’s Digital Citizenship Curriculum for students in grades K through 12; The NYC Department of Health’s Teenspace mental health support program for students ages 13 to 17 and the health agency’s guide for parents, “Social Media and Youth Mental Health.”