Canada’s young people are suffering immensely from a new type of addiction – cellphone use and social media.
“Growing up in a phone-based world bred a dependence upon the tiny metal devices and the constant stream of social media,” notes Paul W. Bennett, the author of a new MLI report, .
With a growing mental health crisis among adolescents – marked by increasing rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide – Bennett calls for an urgent, cross-sectoral approach to curb social media addiction and its detrimental effects on youth.
The report emphasizes the need for co-ordinated action across public health, education and social services.
Among the key findings in Bennett’s report:
- A significant proportion of youth are addicted to social media, with 13 to 18 year olds averaging more than 8 hours a day on their phones;
- North American adolescents are experiencing unprecedented levels of mental health issues. Rates of depression, self-harm, and suicide among teens have risen sharply since the 2010s, with the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating these trends;
- Several countries, including France, Italy, and the Netherlands, have already implemented bans on smartphones in classrooms, signalling a global policy shift in response to the crisis.
Bennett argues that a multi-faceted approach is needed to address the mental health crisis and reduce social media addiction among youth.
According to Bennett, leadership on public health is crucial. A strategic approach to the problem would include:
- Commissioning a comprehensive study on social media addiction among school-age children;
- Urging Health Canada and provincial health authorities to identify social media addiction as a mental health emergency;
- Supporting legal action against social media companies for the harmful effects on youth.
For Bennett, these solutions represent “only the beginning in the post-pandemic struggle to reclaim the minds of the smartphone generation and to curtail the adverse effects on the mental wellbeing of children and youth.”
By implementing these recommendations, Canada can take significant steps towards improving the mental health and well-being of its younger generations.
To learn more, read the full paper here:
Paul W. Bennett, Ed.D., is Director, Schoolhouse Institute, Adjunct Professor of Education, Saint Mary’s University, and Chair of research ED Canada.
— From the Macdonald-Laurier Institute magazine Inside Policy
