CLEVELAND — Teens using social media is inevitable. But recent studies show the platforms can cause mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety. Tuesday morning on Mom Squad, we are highlighting a local school that is teaching students all about social media, including the good and the bad.
“I was quite young when I got my first phone,” MacKenzie Reid said.
Reid got her first hand-me-down phone from her sister and downloaded "musically."
"But when I had social media I think it was more of the fun side of it until I got to, like, my teen years was when the harm started like impacting me. I want to say, like, 10, (or), 9, it was young," Reid said.
For Sophie Gellis, she had to wait until she was older.
“My parents were really strict,” she said.
Her parents thought they were supervising her phone use.
“I would download Instagram, make an account, then delete it the next day so my parents didn't see it. And as I got older, I, of course, got my own account. I kind of wish I didn't do that because now I am kind of down this rabbit hole," Gellis said.
Their stories are like every teens' story, navigating an entire digital world, all on their own as young kids.
“A child using social media for the first time, if they have no awareness of it and instruction on how to use it, it's kind of like walking onto a playground during a tornado," said Dan McGee, Director of Technology at Laurel School in Shaker Heights.
McGee was one of the catalysts for adopting "The Social Institute" course at Laurel.
The social institute was founded by Laura Tierney, a social media specialist who worked for major companies, and realized that these platforms can be used for professional development and positive experiences if they are used in the right way.
“We're seeing educators across the country lock arms with their parent community at the school and say, 'You know what? We're going to step up and do something about this proactively.' We're not going to point our fingers at the families waiting for them to do something and families are not only pointing their fingers at the school it's a partnership and that's what we are seeing in in schools across the country,” McGee said.
Laurel School starts the program as early as 3rd grade for their students.
One of the school psychologists, Tori Cordiano, believes walking kids through rational thinking about social media is critical, especially since their pre-frontal cortex responsible for impulse control and regulating emotions is still developing.
“Adolescents have this drive for autonomy, they don't want tricked or manipulated by adults, so there's a lot of power in pulling back the curtain on the algorithm and having them think critically on who is making money off of their discomfort, off of their doubt, off of their poor body image. That's a powerful motivator for teenagers,” says Cordiano.
For Mackenzie and Sophie, they say their eyes were opened to - not only how much social media was consuming their time - but also how the digital world isn't always real life.
“We talked about when you are posting something, you are not behind yourself, all that you are is this really what I want to show of myself. I think in a way it highlighted when people post, it is what they want people to see about their lives. I think that helped with comparing myself because when I post it is a highlight of myself," says Makenzie.
The Social Institute is a program available to any school across the country.
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