American Paediatricians Call for Systemic Digital Safety Reforms
The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued groundbreaking new guidance that fundamentally rethinks how society should approach children's mental health in the digital era. Moving beyond traditional screen time limitations, the comprehensive policy statement emphasises the need for structural reforms and corporate accountability alongside parental engagement.
Beyond Individual Responsibility
Dr Jessica Schleider, an adolescent psychologist and professor at Northwestern University, described the new approach as "really refreshing to see." She explained that conventional wisdom has placed excessive safety burdens on individual parents, with advice like limiting youth access to screens or monitoring every digital movement proving "not only impossible, but for adolescents in particular, potentially invasive."
Instead, the AAP is shifting focus toward what Schleider calls "the structural responsibility of companies and society." The organisation recommends specific regulations to limit "overt, sexualised, commercialised, or harmful content to youth," including algorithms that push damaging content toward vulnerable young users.
Nuanced Approach Versus Outright Bans
This guidance represents a more sophisticated response than recent moves toward blanket social media bans for certain age groups, such as Australia's prohibition on social media accounts for youth under sixteen. Schleider criticised such bans as "very unfortunate," noting that while social media platforms often have harmful designs, prohibitions do nothing to make those platforms safer.
"Social media is the first and often only place that young people seek out help and support," Schleider emphasised. "Cutting that off immediately with no warning has really adverse consequences." Her research has revealed that youth needing mental health treatment are more likely to access services in states that don't require parental consent, highlighting why some digital autonomy can be healthier for teenagers.
Practical Parental Strategies
The AAP statement does include practical advice for parents and caregivers, recommending tracking digital habits for entire families and implementing parental controls. Dr Tiffany Munzer, a developmental behavioural paediatrician at the University of Michigan and lead author of the statement, acknowledged that "it's hard to monitor screens twenty-four seven," but suggested "checking in intermittently to see what kids are doing."
Teri McKean, director of crisis support operations for the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Chicago, uses Google's parental control system with her thirteen-year-old daughter. The system requires permission for app downloads, flags problematic content in communications, and sets screen time limits. However, McKean emphasises that technology alone isn't enough—she maintains open conversations with her children about their digital lives.
"Every day it's like, Mom, can I have Snapchat? Mom, can I have Instagram?" McKean shared. "And I say, you spend enough time on your phone anyway." Her teenager acknowledges this reality, demonstrating how honest dialogue can complement technological safeguards.
Building Communication Bridges
Dr Munzer stressed the importance of keeping communication channels open from an early age. She suggested asking children questions like "What did you like about that game?" or "Did you see any ads on the screen?" to create "a little bit of an opening into the window of what a child's experience is."
This approach not only helps parents understand their children's digital worlds but strengthens family relationships. Viewing social media as a group activity can reduce isolation and build connections, as McKean experiences when watching KPop Demon Hunters videos with her children. "Dads are really into the music," she noted. "We all enjoy laughing at that."
Navigating Difficult Conversations
Some digital safety topics remain challenging for parents to address. Ben Blair, a Chicago-based educator with children aged ten and fourteen, values open communication but hesitates to discuss sexploitation—where adults manipulate minors into sharing explicit images for blackmail—with his teenage son.
While Blair talks openly about sexual consent, a conversation about sexploitation would represent "such a stark reminder that he is entering a place in time where he'll no longer be insulated from evil. There's a profound feeling that there are pieces of his childhood that will never come back."
Systemic Solutions Needed
Both Dr Munzer and Dr Schleider acknowledge that today's digital climate can make parents feel incapable of making correct decisions. They argue policymakers should focus more energy on holding digital media companies accountable for harm to minors and ensuring children have access to safe "third places" like after-school activities and green spaces.
"The system is set up for parents to fail no matter what they choose to do," Schleider stated. "By the system, I mean how these social media, apps and online spaces are architected to keep eyeballs there, not to protect young people's well-being."
For parents like Blair, navigating this landscape requires accepting uncomfortable responsibilities. Comparing smartphones to cars, he believes parents must "be the seatbelts, even when they're terribly uncomfortable... I hope all parents can kind of own that, that it sucks to be the seat belt."
The AAP's new guidance represents a significant shift toward recognising that protecting children in the digital age requires collective action, corporate responsibility, and supportive policies alongside engaged parenting.
