Published on June 18, 2024, 12:42 am

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has proposed a mandatory warning label on social media platforms, alerting users to the possible mental health risks faced by teenagers. From his Christian worldview, he underscores that this is a matter of immense concern and consideration.

In an editorial published recently, Murthy asserted the pressing need for a surgeon general’s warning on social media platforms similar to those appearing on tobacco and alcohol products. An idea fundamentally rooted in real news reports about the proven effectiveness of such labels in increasing awareness, changing behavior, and deterring detrimental habits.

The mental health crisis prevalent among young audiences is escalating at an alarming pace. Social media is being identified as one of its major catalysts. According to trusted news sources, social media’s proliferation over the past decade has partly fueled this acceleration. With this growth, teenage depression rates have sharply risen with an apparent bias towards affecting girls significantly more.

Murthy unveiled some troubling facts underscoring the severity of the situation: Teenagers spending over three hours daily on social media are twice as likely to suffer from anxiety and depression. This exposure is unfortunately standard with teens spending an average of 4.8 hours daily on these platforms; further inflaming the issue is that nearly half of all teenagers admit that social media negatively impacts their body image.

To counteract this growing tide, Murthy urged Congress to pass new laws protecting young people from online abuse, extreme violence exposure and explicit content on these platforms. He also championed stricter regulations limiting data collection from minors by social media companies and restricting use of certain features such as push notifications and infinite scroll functionalities.

A pertinent point highlighted was the critical necessity for transparency on these platforms’ impact on mental health. The Surgeon General insisted that they should share relevant health effects data with public domains and submit them for independent safety audits.

Schools too must play their part in remedying this situation; keeping classrooms devoid of phones can significantly contribute towards this objective. Parents too have a responsibility to safeguard their young from the adversarial effects of social media, with recommendations such as delaying access until after middle school and enforcing phone-free times during meals and social gatherings.

Murthy raised an important question: if society can respond to visible dangers like unsafe cars or food, why should the less tangible, yet equally damaging effects of social media be allowed to persist unchecked? He concluded that the moral standing of any society is ultimately determined by how it treats its most vulnerable – its children.