Social media addiction worsening youth mental health crisis: DPAC
Addiction to social media and spending more than three hours a day on their cellphones is worsening the crisis many youth in School District 60 are facing, according to District Parent Advisory Council vice-president, Jami Grahn.
“The average cellphone user is on their phone about five to six hours a day, which is an entire work day for some of us,” Grahn, who has done extensive research into the issue, told Fort St. John City Council last week.
For youth aged 13 to 18, daily screen time can be as high as eight hours, she said. A US poll shows that 39 percent of youth aged 7-10 are active on social media, and according to Forbes magazine kids who spend more than three hours a day on social media have an increased risk of mental health struggles.
“The school district has done its own research on this and found that 68 percent of students reported poor mental health, poor sleep and poor nutrition,” Grahn said. “That is exceptionally high.”
As a result of spending more than three hours a day on social media, Grahn’s research has found that youth are experiencing higher levels of anxiety, frustration, anger and depression. Also, the rise of AI-generated selfies – on free apps that are available at any age – has increased feelings of envy and insecurity, as well as body dysmorphia and social comparison among youth.
“This issue has affected so many people, it’s nearly impossible to meet anyone who doesn’t know somebody who has been negatively impacted by the mental health crisis affecting our children,” Grahn said.
To help fight the damage social media is doing to youth in the community, Grahn sought out someone who could teach youth to see through negative influences and focus on making decisions that will help them build the future they want.
She found Robert Hackenson Jr., with Dynamic Influence who is based in the United States, to come to Fort St. John later this month to speak to students in Grade 4 and up, and parents.
“What made him stand out to me is his ability to engage with students, which anyone with teenagers knows is a hard thing to do,” Grahn said.
“Rob teaches a message of future planning, tossing aside the notion of you only live once, because what you do online is forever,” she said.
Hackenson founded Dynamic Influence in 2004, believing that important messages are being lost as audiences attention spans are shrinking and they become bored. He calls his style of presentation “Edutaining”, a method that presents the material in a highly interactive and engaging way, delivering messages to audiences in an enjoyable and memorable fashion. As a result, audiences are captivated throughout the presentations and pay attention to the important lessons.
“He can present on many topics we feel are at the top of our agenda,” said Grahn. “Such as drug and alcohol abuse, vaping, sexting and the social media crisis.”
Grahn adds that Hackenson speaks to students about their future selves, how it won’t be good for them five years from now, to have posted hateful things, graphic, altered or explicit images on social media.
“He talks about the future consequences of today’s decisions.”
In addition to the presentations for students in Grades 4 to 12 which are put on by DPAC with the support of all the Parent Advisory Committees and Doig River First Nations, there will also be a parental discussion event.
Grahn hopes that all parents will come out to the event, at Anne Roberts Young Elementary School gym on April 24 at 7 p.m., and “become educated about the dangers of this addiction.”