Should We Take A Break From at Least One Social Media Platform?

A 2020 meta-study with 35,500 participants revealed the benefits of temporarily deactivating Facebook and Instagram on personal well-being. The study participants abstained from Facebook or Instagram for six weeks. As one of the most extensive controlled experiments on the subject, the results showed significant improvements in overall well-being, even though participants actively switched to other social media like Snapchat and TikTok.

Lisa D’amour, PhD, and Appstinence founder Gabriela Nguyen were interviewed by The New York Times Health Reporter Dani Blum on May 7, 2025, at the New York Times Well Festival. Dr. D’amour explained that while social media apps can connect you to new people and things, they can also disconnect you from the people in your immediate environment. If you are ignoring those around you, what is called “phubbing,” then it’s time to take a break from the device and its apps.

Gabriela pointed out that social media is becoming a social norm, but it’s still optional, and you should consider whether you want to be tethered to it for life. You might also consider the previous blog about social media and the Hook Model. Gabriela suggested exchanging your SMART device for the newer flip phones. Dr. D’amour suggests that if you are not ready to change devices, start by being deliberate about how much time you allot to social media, making it a routine. Perhaps, once you reconnect with the people around you in meaningful ways, you might reduce your allotted time even more or be ready to let go of your SMART devices altogether.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR CHILD IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT?

By Rhonda Geraci

Unmonitored screen time may happen despite parents’ best efforts to monitor their children.

Smartphones, iPads, other smart devices, and social media apps were developed based on what Behavior Economist Nir Eyal called the Hook Model in his 2014 book Hooked, How to Build Habit-Forming Products. As the name implies, this model entices engagement and embeds a feedback and reward loop that can keep the user hooked all day and night.

In a 2020 research study, Birgitta Dresp Langley found the negative impact of digital devices on children’s health, the obesity epidemic, and potential metabolic changes in newborns and toddlers due to screen time overexposure. The American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines recommend no screen time for children under two. A CBS 60 Minutes episode featured a landmark 2018 National Institute on Health study on the impact of screentime on brain development in children. It also featured psychologist and bestselling author Dr. Lisa D’amour, who explained that screentime guidelines for children should protect sleep and focus.

Dr. D’amour shared that elementary children need 11 hours of sleep, and teens need 9-10 hours.

According to a study published by JAMA Pediatrics, electronic devices in the sleep environment can negatively impact quality sleep and cause daytime sleepiness.

Children aren’t the only ones getting caught up in the Hook Model. Adults get hooked as well. Think about how many times you scroll or look at your phone daily. However, children and adults with neurological challenges like ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorder are especially vulnerable to the reward system that the Hook Model devices create. As with neurally typical children, it negatively impacts sleep and connection with others, but can also delay social, cognitive, and behavioral development.

A parent and social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, noticed the impact of unmonitored digital technology on children’s sleep, health, and mental well-being. He began compiling data from researchers and learning from early child advocates of tether-free play like Free Range Kids founder Lenore Skenezy. In 2024, Haidt wrote Anxious Generation and co-founded the Let Grow Foundation with Skenezy and Boston Professor Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn, to foster more unmonitored play that unplugs youth from Hook Model devices.

A first-line tip towards screentime management is to read the links highlighted in this blog and educate yourself on how to collaborate with your child to set age-appropriate screen time rules. For example, empower your child to learn and experience how removing all devices from the bedroom at least two hours before bed can foster a good night’s sleep. Also, consider using safer tech for your kids, whether neurotypical or not, and creating opportunities for more outdoor play, minimally or unmonitored, based on the level of need to foster curiosity, exploration, and connection that boosts their cognitive and behavioral development. It’s also important to share the information with your neighbors and community to facilitate collective actions like phone-free schools and increased pathways to more unmonitored or minimally monitored outdoor playgrounds, and promote and model device-free sleep environments, so everyone gets the sleep they need to learn, grow, and thrive.

What Gen Z want us to see.

The dynamics of a particular time in history impact every generation, and Gen Z is no different. Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z grew up connecting to others in new ways with Wi-Fi, smartphones with cameras, and social media. It put them at the forefront of climate change and social movements like Black Lives Matter. They’ve been through two major recessions and an epidemic that put them on lockdown at a formidable age. According to a recent Pew Research study, this generation is likelier from a single-parent household. A 2022 study by The Annie E. Casey Foundation found that single-parent families comprise 30% of those living below the poverty level. As a social determinant of health (SODH), poverty has mental and physical impacts, with risks of disrupted brain devel­op­ment, lower education outcomes, maladaptive behaviors, and substance misuse, all of which affect their future well-being and employ­ment capabilities.

The Center for Generational Kinetics studied the impact of COVID-19 and found Gen Z was the hardest hit by social isolation and loneliness. Deloitte included about 23,000 participants in their 2024 comparative research with Millennials and Gen Z and found that Gen Z is more anxious and stressed, with those with disabilities ranking the highest. The Gallup and Walton Foundation conducted yearly analyses of Gen Z, and their data was posted in July, concurring with other findings highlighting an overall shift in mental health.

What is most important to see from the Gen Z studies are their strengths and resilience.

The annual Deloitte and Gallup/Walton Foundation studies show improvements and optimism we don’t want to overlook.

The Gallop study found that 94% of teens said they were happy. What gives us a sense of well-being and triggers our “Happy Hormones” requires activities and energetic exchanges between people. Gen Z members are finding their own way to meaningful connections, but when they are upset, they simply want adults to listen.

Each Gen Z member has individual circumstances to consider. Data is just that—it's information. It's essential to see them as individuals and part of a generation. Adults can support them by listening and recognizing touchpoints and opportunities to connect with them within the adult's sphere of influence.

Could you be a role model or mentor for a specific career path or teach them a new skill? Small acts like these can have significant returns. They can help increase Gen Z's capabilities, support their empowerment, and mitigate social isolation, loneliness, anxiety, and stress, giving them a healthier space to create their tomorrow.

What do Toddlers and Adolescents Have In Common?

Toddlers and adolescents are at a particular developmental stage where they seek more independence. They may become defiant and lash out when oppressive rules override their need to experiment, expand, or explore. They may test boundaries. It is a normal process. It is critical to respect what your toddler or adolescent is going through and strive to understand the biological, psychological, and social components specific to them.

Educator, author, co-founder of Tinkering School, Brightworks, and inventor for Tinkering Labs, Gever Tully is a proponent of healthy boundary testing activities, many of which may cause panic in adults. However, while you want to support their individuation, you must also recognize when a toddler or adolescent is entering more dangerous territory and needs guidance. For example, when your toddler is determined to take off their floaters and go to the deep end of the pool, or your adolescent is expressing pressure from peers, that might lead to experimentation with drugs, alcohol, and sex.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE DEFIANCE

Some of the science behind the developmental stage involves Synaptic Pruning. The name describes the actions in the cerebellum, which reduces or prunes unused or unneeded synapses. Jill Sakai (2020) explains that over 100 billion neurons exist in a newborn’s brain. Bryan Kolb, PhD, and Robbin Gibb, PhD (2011) explain seven stages of brain development, including in layman's terms: “Cell birth,” “cell migration,” “cell differentiation,” “cell maturation,” “formation of synapses,” “cell death and synaptic pruning,” and “formation of myelin” (see Table 1). The synaptic pruning process can begin around age two and still happen until age 20 (Sakai, 2020, para. 12). Casey, B. J., Jones, R. M., Levita, L., Libby, V., Pattwell, S. S., Ruberry, E. J., Soliman, F., & Somerville, L. H. (2010) and neuroscientist, Sarah-Jayne Blakemore have referred to the process specific to adolescents as a stressful “storm” of factors convening at one time creating vulnerability to maladaptive behaviors, addiction, and mental health challenges.

BUILD SKILLS TO SUPPORT HEALTHY COPING AND BEHAVIORS

Reading and researching the biopsychosocial components involved can help you empathize and understand your toddler or teen better. Consider attending Parental Skill-Building groups and supporting your toddler or adolescent in attending Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) groups at school and learning techniques provided in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy sessions. There are many avenues to begin supporting your toddler or adolescent. The most important thing is to listen to them and respect that they are going through an integral developmental process that can be difficult for them, even though, at times, it may feel as if it is harder on you. You are welcome to contact me to help you find the support you need.