Parents can make a big difference by using these strategies.

Parents paying close attention to news headlines over the past year would be justifiably worried about the risks of letting their adolescent or teen girl spend too much time online. The intense scrutiny that began a year ago with explosive revelations about Meta’s own internal research on female teen users has continued with government investigations into social media platforms that may, among other things, encourage young girls to compare themselves to peers and influencers in potentially harmful ways.

It’s not that TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and other platforms are inherently bad. Or that parents can draw a straight line from a teen girl’s constant scrolling to lower self-confidence or feelings of worthlessness. Instead, like many adults, girls can get caught up in a toxic swirl of social comparison, wanting to belong, and risky vulnerability. This may be even more true for girls experiencing puberty at an earlier age than their mothers or grandmothers. That trend, which has seen puberty for girls around the world continue to happen earlier each decade, specifically puts girls at higher risk of developing depression, in addition to other mental health challenges. (Separately, early-onset puberty, or when puberty happens for girls prior to age 8, is a relatively uncommon condition.)

All of this is happening at an already delicate time in adolescent and teen girls’ lives, during a phase when they’re trying to develop a strong sense of self and the ability to deal with overwhelming feelings, as well as stitch together a safety net of fulfilling offline relationships. Aspects of the internet, particularly social media algorithms, can exploit some girls’ insecurities, drawing them deeper into self-doubt or even exposing them to bullying and dangerous content, like radicalized political message boards and influencers who promote disordered eating.

Despite these very real fears, parents and caregivers can help girls thrive online by turning to well-known techniques, like rules for screen time and increased media literacy, as well as strategies that boost a girl’s resiliency, which include praising a girl’s positive behaviors and qualities and helping her build an offline life that gives her a sense of belonging and mattering.

The most common guidance may sound familiar, but it bears repeating:

Model healthy internet use. Dr. Jason Nagata, an assistant professor of pediatrics in the division of adolescent and young adult medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, says that one of the most important predictors of how an adolescent uses screens is their parents’ behavior. This means that parents need to respect whatever boundaries they’ve set for the household, including no texting at dinner, or putting phones away an hour before bedtime.

"If you’re telling your kid one thing, and you’re breaking those rules, they’re not going to listen to you, or they’re just going to emulate what they see," says Nagata, whose research in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study has found links between screen use and binge-eating and disruptive behavior disorders in youth and teens.

Make sure screens aren’t displacing healthy, enjoyable activities. Nagata says that screen time shouldn’t lead to reduced in-person socializing, offline hobbies, physical activity, and sleep. Turning off notifications and taking social media breaks when screen time becomes stressful helps preserve time for other important activities, which creates a buffer against the negative messages girls may encounter online.

Talk about different challenging scenarios. Parents should have conversations with their children about how to handle various kinds of negative online experiences, like bullying and being targeted with weight-loss ads. Helping a teen problem-solve in advance can give girls an advantage in the future. Parents also shouldn’t underestimate the role that peers and influencers play in girls’ online lives, especially when it comes to body image.

Nagata often treats teen girls hospitalized with eating disorders, many of whom struggle to stop scanning their favorite social media accounts for weight-loss tips, even as they’re receiving care. He also sees girls who develop an association between screen use and binge-eating disorders, which are more common than anorexia and restrictive food intake disorders. (Eating disorders occur in boys as well, and sometimes go undetected because of gendered stereotypes about who’s most affected by such conditions.)

Nagata says that while there are some benefits for teens who use social media, like staying in touch with family and friends, others struggle in concerning ways.

"[I] think there are also teens who get stuck in some of these eating disorder or body image traps where they’re constantly comparing themselves to others, and it can detrimentally affect their mental health," he says.

AE News