You can stop the avalanche of teen suicides due to social media

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ISSUE 22.09 • 2025-03-03 PUBLIC DEFENDER By Brian Livingston The world is suffering from an explosion of teenage suicides and self-harm that are direc
[See the full post at: You can stop the avalanche of teen suicides due to social media]

Total of 21 users thanked author for this post. Here are last 20 listed.

Anne O'Nemus, WSGeo, fisher75, windbg, Cybertooth, Casey S, Great Lake Bunyip, bilduval, rizzquery, Gene Servillo, RobM, Myst, David A, DLivesInTexas, rc primak, Slowpoke47, lmacri, Pepsiboy, bobthrasher, satrow

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After reading this item, I linked it on Facebook, and suggested that office-holders at all levels of government should read it, and take action to protect our children. My two sons are not endangered by social media because they were adults before the smart phone came into existence, but if I, and they were younger, I’d want protective measures to be in place, if for no other reason than the fact that such a law would give me a valid reason for not allowing them to use a smart phone until they reach the minimum legal age.

Ernie

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rizzquery, WSbobby-p

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One reason these problems have morphed into an epidemic is that these kids’ parents are as addicted as the kids.  Sometimes, when a school cellphone ban is proposed, indignant parents threaten authorities with the claim that they need to be able to contact their kids at a moment’s notice.

So how did previous generations of kids manage to become successful adults without cellphones and social media?

 

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Charlie, wavy, SueW, rizzquery, WSbobby-p, coastline

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Thank you for posting this, Brian.

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You can make anything illegal. But the truth is, kids will get their hands on any technology that’s available. Even toddlers know how to order from Amazon on their parents’ smart phones or using a home voice assistant hub, as has been pointed out in several recent news items.

By making social media illegal, you are increasing the desire of young people to use these platforms, not decreasing their access. What they do in secret is far more likely to cause harm and go undiscovered until it’s too late than what they can do out in the open, with responsible adults watching over their shoulders every minute. And then leading discussions and activities where kids can express their feelings and ask questions about what they have seen and heard on social media.

We have  (in most US States) required Drivers Education classes. Why don’t we have required Social Media classes, and for that matter, Personal Finance classes?

What it takes are parents and other responsible adults making time every day to guide their children in appropriate use of social media, giving hands-on experience, and guided training. The same way we train young people to drive. In Europe, for generations parents taught their kids responsible alcohol consumption by having the kids drink a little wine at meals and on special occasions.

-- rc primak

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wavy, rizzquery

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Except for trust fund babies, no 13 yr old can afford a smart phone. The purse strings are in their parents” hands and that should/will/must squash any rule-breaking. One of my grandchildren has an ipad (his second, he wore out the first) glued to his face virtually 24/7 & gets angry when you ask him to put it down long enough to carry on a brief conversation. The other 5 have been denied such “privilege” by their parents.

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we also do not teach financial responsibility or even how to cook.

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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This article took me by surprise at first.  But the reality is that 25% of humans suffer some level of mental health issue.   I am 71.  That percentage holds among my friends and family if we admit it.  The stigma of any mental health issue hurts us all.  I personally feel that most tweenager bullying is learned behavior, learned from adult family members.  Trolls did not happen overnight.

I was part of a project management team deploying Point of Sale systems in 17 states.  My specific responsibilities included staffing the overnight installers and day one trainers.   We required A+ as a minimum for each position.  Separating those who interacted better with technology or people was a early step.

Thank you for publishing this to this group.

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rizzquery, Chris Hartman

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You may well be correct.  But the scourge of social media amplifies the feelings of insecurity and inadequacy, driving kids to self harm and suicide.  As Brian Livingston points out, the rise of this phenomenon eerily tracks the rise of social media.

 

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wavy

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Too bad that does not stop one from holding public office,

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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wavy wrote:

Too bad that does not stop one from holding public office,

And whose fault is that?  Hint- look in the mirror.  US voter turnout is a dismal 50%- AFAIK, lowest of world’s democracies  The so-called “silent majority” can’t seem to get themselves to the polls, so the extremists, who are more committed (perhaps should be “committed”) get their extreme candidates elected- both far left and far right.

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Charlie, DrBonzo

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Excellent article. This should be passed around everywhere. Thank you!

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Chris Hartman

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I suspect that what is also a major contributing factor is the food young people (and most everyone) eats. Today, it is more “poison” than “food”. Until that is fixed, the problem will remain.

 

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Ask yourself this:  Why does the Wyatt family, need to take an individual lawsuit or lawsuits, on?  Why do they need a GoFundMe campaign?

 

We keep doing this.  We protect companies, corporations, institutions, even when they have failed us.  Then we wonder why nothing changes.  We leave individuals to take action against groups.  We doom the weak to take on the powerful.

 

There are a lot of organizations that are failing us.  Until we take collective action that won’t change.

 

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WSGeo

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For example, you may not think of “voting” as a dangerous behavior for teens. But virtually every democracy worldwide restricts voting rights until a young person is considered “mature enough” to make responsible decisions (18 in the US).

Despite which, dangerous voting choices seems to correlate positively with age.

Meanwhile, I think “rc primak” makes good points, but I will also note that correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation.

Do you know what else has skyrocketed since 2010? Housing costs. Student debt. Things like that. Young people increasingly look around them and don’t see a future for themselves that’s worth staying alive for. They don’t want to graduate, then spend the rest of their lives being treated little better than slaves in some Amazon warehouse or other McJob, without ever getting to retire or even paying off all their debts.

The remarkable thing is actually how few people commit suicide soon after learning enough to have figured all of that out. It is a testament to the strength of the survival instinct that most people would rather suffer fifty or sixty years in this Hell than die. (And a testament to the strength of monumental stupidity that, after a while of that, they’ll vote for the political party that intends to make this even worse.)

Moderator Edit: to remove HTML.

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wavy

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On Apple store apps like Facebook, TikTok, Instagram.. are restricted to age of 12+

Reviewing the Enforcement of App Age Ratings in Apple’s App Store and Google Play

Helping Protect Kids Online

* At the end the parents are responsible for restricting Internet access, apps download…via smartphone, tablets, PC… tools

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wavy, Slowpoke47

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Unfortunately, once a vice gets well-established, it is almost impossible to suppress it.
If the effects of alcohol and tobacco had been discovered early they might have been prohibited. But they have been in use for centuries and the best we can do is enact some restrictions on their use. Even with the restrictions listed in the article, plenty of teens smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol.
Smart phones have had the fastest penetration of society than almost everything – cars, telephones, computers, TV, radio did not reach the level of use of smart phones in the same length of time.
This is not to say that this problem is insoluble – I just don’t think any meaningful restrictions can be enacted and enforced.

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Many years ago, a group of us came up with the “Stages of Adulthood”, which contains what you have in your list, but you missed quite a few.

Die for you Country with parents permission (join the Military) age 17

Die for your country, join Military age 18

Rent a car age 25

Starting in 2021, have gender changing surgery WITHOUT parental consent age 5

Montan has different take on the Drivers License, age 15 unrestricted as many kids work the parents farms

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Excellent article. So much depends on parents! But unfortunately, just like playing video games, too many parents let their kids do whatever keeps their kids occupied so they don’t bother themselves.

Oh, one trivial point. I’m surprised nobody has pointed out that “you may say I’m a dreamer” wasn’t the Beatles. It was John Lennon singing “Imagine”, solo, a couple of years after the Beatles break-up.

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Charlie

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This is of course all terrible.  But the USA is highly unlikely to make the kind of laws against social media, but also restrictions on data mining and rights to ones personal information like many countries in Europe have imposed. That would be a good start.  Not to mention with our current president and all his sycophant cabinet members etc, these kind of laws could ever happen. What someone else said is that these bully kids learn this behavior most likely at home has some merit.  !0-14 year old kids should never be given smart phones. An old fashioned style voice and text only phone will do just fine to keep in touch with parents and family.  Children committing suicide is tragic.

On the other side of the coin, part of me can chalk this social media addiction, and plenty of 18+ age people do it too, to the Darwin awards. Idiots who do us a favor by eliminating themselves from the gene pool.   I have never had, and never will have a personal social media account.

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Parenting [or rather, lack thereof] is and has been the problem.

If you don’t parent your kids, someone else will. Increasingly, those alternative parent sources are very harmful.

Phones, social media, guns, cars, algorithms, <insert trendy reason for blame here>, … are all harmless when used properly. If someone isn’t capable of using a tool properly, that person should not be using that tool.

Cue Parenting 101.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Charlie, wavy, Andy M

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Thank you Brian for (a) addressing this vital and extremely important topic, and (b) placing the blame squarely at the feet of the problem’s source. Good job! Good info! People are the #1 asset on this planet!

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Is there a way we can link to this article to share it?

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Here’s the link to Brian’s article in the free edition of the Newsletter, which is free for everyone. The link will open in a new tab:

https://www.askwoody.com/newsletter/free-edition-you-can-stop-the-avalanche-of-teen-suicides-due-to-social-media/

 

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Slowpoke47 wrote:

And whose fault is that? Hint- look in the mirror.

If you are in the 50% who vote, please disregard this line.  For the other half- merely being appalled does not change anything.

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DrBonzo, WSbobby-p

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