It is no surprise that social media is addictive. If a person observes others around them, you will notice many who are scrolling through social media. Instagram, YouTube shorts, TikTok and other like platforms are the most popular.
The human brain is a very intricate organ with much of its growth and development happening from birth until approximately 20 years old. With the explosion of social media over the past decade, there are some alarming trends, especially in children who are using social media excessively.
The U.S. surgeon general has released an executive summary, Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory (executive Summary), which highlights the negative consequences of too much social media use within our younger population along with recommendations on how to deal with this issue moving forward. The U.S. surgeon general also commented that social media is such a threat to our children’s mental health that these platforms should have a warning label like cigarettes.
It is our hope, as members of the Modern Media Committee, to bring these concerns to the foreground. May each of us value the short time we have here, and make it a priority to spend more time “scrolling” through the Bible, instead of countless hours scrolling through useless information. (Eph. 5:14-17)
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