Now that the pandemic is waning, it’s time to turn back and look at the wreckage. What we’re finding isn’t pretty, especially for a specific demographic: teenagers. A bevy of reports show COVID policies that shut down schools, businesses, and even playgrounds exacerbated the mental health crisis with which many adolescents were already struggling.
Like school, the pandemic has opened up a window into the lives of teenagers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that in the summer of 2020, ER visits among 12- to 17-year-olds, most of whom were girls, spiked by 22%. A few months prior, that number had spiked to 50%. Another study of a bunch of studies found that among teenagers, “the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms during COVID-19 have doubled, compared with pre-pandemic estimates.”
I’ve written about this before, but mental health among teenagers has been steadily declining since about 2009, according to the CDC. Between 2009 and 2019, the number of teenagers who reported having made a suicide plan within the past year increased by 44%. Just before the pandemic began, that number was 1 in 6.
Rampant social media use coupled with the isolation caused by the pandemic appear to be the largest instigators.
Half of teenagers say are online “almost constantly.” Even as adults, we’re prone to comparing our lives to others on Facebook or Instagram. But we’re old enough, and hopefully wise enough, to know that looking at Instagram is like reviewing someone else’s highlight reel: We see only the cleanest houses, the happiest relationships, and the most extravagant vacations, but we know it’s a facade because we live fully in reality. Children and teenagers have not seen enough of the world to differentiate reality from fiction, truth from lies.
Social media, and even the availability of apps such as Netflix and YouTube, causes children to withdraw and isolate, even though they might seem more connected than ever. This, too, increases depression and anxiety — and this is exactly what teenagers were doing to cope during the pandemic. For children in states where schools remained shuttered and businesses closed, their virtual world was their go-to escape, except it turned out to be empty, filled only with people they would never meet living a life that wasn’t real.
This is the dangerous dichotomy social media and smartphones present to everyone, but especially teenagers whose beliefs and values are still malleable. They’re still forming their own filters and figuring out what they believe. And yet, everything they see online gives off the illusion that life is supposed to be perfect.
This presents a particular challenge for parents and teenagers specifically struggling with anxiety and depression. They desperately need to reach out to doctors, therapists, and others for help but can often feel intimidated or too ashamed to do so.
Regarding social media use, there is a simple solution to help children stay off their phones: Schools could mandate that students keep phones on silent, turned off, or in backpacks during class. This helps children not only focus on academics but also forces them to socialize and make friends since their faces can’t be buried in their phones.
Parents can and should intervene as well. My internet provider allows me to cut off the internet at any time. Apps or the phones themselves can restrict screen time. My older children don’t have social media yet. Incentivize other things, such as higher grades and even just talking to or hanging out with friends.
It’s discouraging to see how pandemic policies politicians implemented to help children backfired. Even smartphones and social media, both of which have the ability to bring us together, make teenagers feel less connected than ever. The lesson for parents is straightforward: The government can’t make your children happier, and neither can a smartphone. In fact, as the pandemic proved, too much government intervention and screen time often have the opposite effect, with devastating results for children and young adults alike.
Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist in Washington, D.C., who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
