Social media can increase risks of mental health problems among students

TAMPA, Fla. - U.S. Congresswoman Kathy Castor held a roundtable discussion in Tampa Thursday, with the goal of urging parents to add something new to their back-to-school checklists: safety guardrails for mobile devices.

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Castor was joined by members of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association, Hillsborough PTSA President Ami Marie Grainger Welch and several students.

"Set these guardrails. Have the conversation about what it means online for you to be on your phone for too long," Castor said during a news conference following the roundtable. "The big tech platforms want to keep you addicted. They want your eyeballs constantly scrolling because they're also targeting you with advertisements."

U.S. Congresswoman Kathy Castor held a roundtable discussion. 

Castor believes social media and increased internet usage present a significant risk to the mental health and well-being of students across the country. She pointed to a recent U.S. Surgeon General Advisory which found children and adolescents who spend more than three hours per day on social media face double the risk of mental health problems, including symptoms of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.

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Students, including Cooper Priest, a rising senior at Wharton High School, have experienced those types of issues first-hand.

Increased social media can be harmful for students.

"I have personally experienced mental illness because of my device, even just recently. I can't say I'm out of the woods from it. I can admit that I do have an addiction to my phone," Cooper said. "This is my time to not worry about things, but yet I still find myself on my phone. And what am I really going to remember when I'm older if I'm just on my phone all the time?"

Florida lawmakers recently passed bipartisan legislation that bans most cell phone use in classrooms.

Castor believes more can be done to strengthen restrictions on tech and social media companies. She reintroduced her Kids PRIVACY Act, which would update the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act with safeguards "to keep children and teens safe online and hold big tech companies who surveil and target children accountable."