Monitoring Desk
NEW YORK: In his annual State of the City address on Wednesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams proclaimed it’s time to hold social media platforms accountable for their role in the growing youth mental health crisis.
“Just as the surgeon general did with tobacco and guns, we are treating social media like other public health hazards,” Adams said.
“That’s why today, Dr. Ashwin Vasan is issuing a Health Commissioner Advisory, officially designating social media as a public health crisis hazard in New York City.”
Adams pointed to the “addictive and dangerous” design features that draw youth in and make it difficult for them to step away.
The same day, Ashwin Vasan, M.D., commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, issued an advisory highlighting the deterioration of youth mental health that coincides with the increase in social media use.
According to that advisory, rates of hopelessness among high schoolers in New York City have increased by 42% since 2011 — one of the early years of the social media era. Likewise, suicidal ideation has also risen by more than 34% among the group over that same time period.
Dr. Vasan shared that the average New York City high schooler spends around three hours per day on screens using social media during school hours, not counting the school work they complete using screens.
This has caused many of them to stop engaging in their usual extracurricular activities.
“Social media has become an increasingly ubiquitous and impactful part of the lives of NYC youth, especially with the advent of smartphones, algorithmic targeting of content and monetization of user-generated content,” the advisory reads.
Several studies have detailed the harmful effects of social media on youth mental health.
One recent study found that half of teens between 13 and 17 who use social media three hours a day say that it has negatively impacted their body image.
Another revealed that teens who frequently engage on social media platforms have double the risk of experiencing anxious and depressive feelings.
With the move, New York City is the first major city to officially label social media use as a public health threat.
Dr. Vasan encouraged parents, teachers, caregivers and anyone else who is actively involved in youth development to promote social media use “in a manner that is protective of youth mental health.”
This includes implementing regular technology-free time to encourage in-person connections, being open minded to the benefits of social media when discussing its use with youth, and modeling healthy social media use of their own.
