‘Media diet’, how online content impacts kids’ mental health

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — In the world of fake content, how are kids currently navigating social media and what is the impact to their mental health?

“For as long as social media has been around kids and teenagers have been struggling to deal with it,” Dr. Elise Fallucco said. “And, parents too because as parents we’re trying to figure out how to support our kids”.

Fallucco is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (CHKD).

At the Digital Desk, Fallucco discussed the challenges kids face and how to help them in today’s social media landscape. Watch the Digital Desk conversation in the video player on this page.

What’s the first question you should ask your kids? Fallucco encourages asking what platforms or social media apps they are using.

Next, ask how much time they are spending on it. Time is something easily underestimated.

“It can be helpful to have various programs on your phone or on your tablet that kind of keep track of your screen time, so you can realize ‘Wow, I’m spending two or three hours or even more on social media’,” Fallucco said.

Then, it is also key to ask how they feel while on social media and when they are done looking at it.

It can be a good experience.

“Is it a positive experience where you’re laughing at cat videos and feeling like you’re learning things or connecting with friends?” Fallucco said.

It can also be negative. From comparing yourself to what you see online with friends or content from celebrities.

“Or, are you having a little bit of FOMO (fear of missing out)? Or, do you feel, wow, I’m seeing images of my friends all doing fun things without me?” Fallucco said.

She said taking the pulse of how individuals feel from social media, and self-reflecting is important. It can be critical in helping kids make the right choices online.

Social media can have an affect on children nationally with the spread of videos and information.

Looking at TikTok from the clinical side, Fallucco spoke about TikTok tics. Social media spread this fake condition across the country. Watch the full video clip, below.

“There were a number of videos, and information on TikTok showing people who said they had a type of tic, like a motor tic” Fallucco said. “Except, it was not medically true at all and they were just sort of things people were making up”.

Fallucco saw patients and families that would come in, thinking they had this tic and show the movement. The conversation in the office would lead to the discovery it was something they saw on TikTok, and they had been miming the movement.

“I think for us in mental health that was the first really concrete, obvious example that something, of the pervasive and powerful influence of social media on our kids,” Fallucco said.

It served as an example of the impact social media has on each individual.

“We know what we consume, like the food we put in our bodies and also our media diet, everything we are seeing and taking in effects our growth, effects our body, effects the way we think,” Fallucco said.

Examples like this, Fallucco said, are a good reminder for professionals on learning more about what kids are doing online, what they are consuming, and where is the information coming from.

As a parent herself, Fallucco is familiar with the question of giving kids access to social media. When is the right time to allow kids and teens to have accounts? Watch the discussion in the clip below.

Fallucco encourages families to utilize the American Academy of Pediatrics Family Media Plan. It starts a conversation about media use including platforms to use, time spent on electronics and when it is okay to use devices.

“For parents who may feel uncomfortable talking to teens about social media or don’t even know where to start, just having this structured guide almost as an outline for having a conversation with your teen can be really helpful,” Fallucco said.

Here are some additional resources, below.

• CHKD – Mental Health in Children, Teens, and Adolescents: How Parents Can Help

• Yale Medicine – How Social Media Affects Your Teen’s Mental Health: A Parent’s Guide

• Mayo Clinic – Teens and social media use: What’s the impact?

WAVY’s Sarah Goode will update the article following the livestream.

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