WATCH: Over reliance on social media apps has mental and physical consequences for children

his month, Congress has held hearings on the negative effects of Facebook and other social media companies--including young children.

PBS NewsHour's Nicole Ellis on Oct. 29 spoke with Washington Post technology reporter Heather Kelly and child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Paul Weigle to unpack the potential risks are to children and what parents and other caregivers can do.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as many others shifted their lives online, so did young people, who turned to social media to fulfill their social needs out of necessity. But now, more information is coming out about the physical and mental consequences of over reliance on mobile and social technology, including neck pain, skyrocketing cases of depression and severe social anxiety according to Weigle. Kelly, who frequently fields questions from parents at the Washington Post’s Technology Help Desk says it always comes down to getting to know your kids, interacting with them inside the social media apps they’re using and asking questions of them. “You can throw tech at this all you want, but my biggest takeaway is talk to your kids.”

Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG
Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6

Follow us:
Facebook: http://www.pbs.org/newshour
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/newshour
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/newshour

Subscribe:
PBS NewsHour podcasts: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/podcasts
Newsletters: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/subscribe