by Jamil Ragland
Gov. Ned Lamont joined two other Democrat governors – Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Kathy Hochul of New York – last week at the NBC 4 studio in New York City to discuss an epidemic of youth smartphone usage, the impact social media has on developing teenagers, and how each governor plans to respond to those issues.
Lamont began the conversation by describing a moment during the pandemic when he realized that children were feeling isolated.
“The defining moment for me was during COVID. We used to listen to all the calls coming into our emergency ops center,” Lamont said. “For the first three months it was, ‘Am I gonna live?’ But then we started hearing more and more from the kids. They were alone, they were isolated, and they felt so lonely.”
The three governors shared stories where teenagers have asked leaders to “save us from ourselves,” according to Hochul. She describes the battle against youth cell phone usage as deeply personal.
“I’m the first mom governor in the state of New York. I’ve raised teenagers. I have nieces and nephews who are going through this right now,” Hochul said. “And if we in government can’t find a way to help the most vulnerable, our children, who have to rely on adults to show them the right way, then we’ve failed.”
Murphy said that part of the problem is that adults have not set the best example for children in terms of how to handle smartphones and social media.
“We’re all guilty of having that device at the table at dinner and our kids, I think, have suffered the most as a result,” Murphy said.
Lamont was even more blunt.
“Smartphones make you stupid, they isolate you, and it’s really accented a lot of that sense of profound loneliness that came out of COVID,” he said.
While all three governors agreed that something has to be done to reign in youth smartphone usage, they are taking different approaches. Lamont said that while education policy remains local, he has called on districts to ban smartphones from schools.
“Get those phones out of the classroom, starting K through nine, all the way through high school. We’re going to go right to the superintendents,” Lamont said. “I’d say most of our schools are going to get the smartphones out of the classroom by this fall.”
Murphy is also taking a local control approach to the issue.
Hochul has taken a much more direct approach, stating that she’s seeking a statewide ban on smartphones in schools.
“I have said to [parents and educators], ‘Is it easier for you if I become the heavy, if I make it a statewide mandate and work out the enforcement challenges?’” Hochul said. “I’m willing to do that. I just need the legislature, which I think will be supportive because of the evidence we’re seeing.”
Social media usage has become a dominant part of teenager’s lives. According to data published in October 2023 by Gallup, the average teenager spends 4.8 hours of the day on the seven most popular social media sites. YouTube and TikTok are the most popular platforms by far, accounting for 1.9 hours and 1.5 hours on average, respectively. Girls spend more time on social media than boys, accounting for 5.3 hours of their day versus 4.4 hours for boys.
These data are from the Familial and Adolescent Health Survey conducted by Gallup June 26 to July 17, 2023, using the Gallup Panel. The survey collected data from 6,643 parents and 1,591 adolescents who were the children of those parents.
A chart of data from the Familial and Adolescent Health Survey conducted by Gallup June 26-July 17, 2023, using the Gallup Panel. The survey collected data from 6,643 parents and 1,591 adolescents who were the children of those parents. The survey asked about parental and child wellbeing, parenting practices, youth mental health, youth activities, quality of parent-child relationships, and other topics. Credit: Courtesy of Gallup / Familial and Adolescent Health Survey conducted by Gallup
Despite the concern expressed by political leaders and scientists, there is still no clearly defined causal link between teenage use of social media and increased instances of depression, anxiety and other mental health issues, with much of the evidence providing only correlational data. The 2023 report from the surgeon general, Social Media and Youth Mental Health, admits as much in its “Known Evidence Gap” section.
“The relationship between social media and youth mental health is complex and potentially bidirectional,” the report states. “There is broad concern among the scientific community that a lack of access to data and lack of transparency from technology companies have been barriers to understanding the full scope and scale of the impact of social media on mental health and well-being. Most prior research to date has been correlational, focused on young adults or adults, and generated a range of results.”
In the end, the governors agreed that adults need to be present and active in the lives of youth to look for the signs of mental health trouble and possible addiction.
“Listen to your kids. The kids are crying out for help. The teachers are saying that we were here as a sounding board for these kids. They need a parent, they need a coach. We’ve got mental health counselors in the classroom as well,” Lamont said.