I am no supporter of the stance that social media is inherently harmful. Indeed, I use it daily, but the testimony of Facebook whistle-blower Frances Haugen before the US Senate this week emphasises that we need to continue to be vigilant about its potential impact on young people’s well-being and development. Although we are yet to hear a full response from Facebook’s executives, it appears that the company side-lined its own research findings that the use of Instagram can have significant impacts on the mental well-being of teenage girls, whilst simultaneously implementing strategies to attract more preteen users to the platform.

We are all conscious of the impact that repeated exposure to unrealistic and doctored images can have on young people’s perceptions – as well as our own – and this was harmful enough when it was confined to fashion, health or lifestyle magazines, elite athletes, and models. How much riskier is it when algorithms are designed to cultivate our engagement by showing us more and more of the type of posts to which we pay attention to, and spread our exposure across other platforms we use? How do we appreciate what ‘normality’ looks like if the sample we use to form this concept is so skewed?

I’m not sure I have a simple answer here. I am certainly in favour of thinking carefully about young people’s engagement with certain aspects of social media and the best time for this to begin, but this must also go in hand with educating young people about the methodology of platforms, encouraging them to question critically the information that is presented to them and by whom, as well as fostering in them a positive perception of who they are and that individual differences are to be celebrated.

We cannot wrap them up in cotton wool forever, so we also need to prepare them for a time when we are not there to limit their access and challenge any faulty thinking. It is a discussion we will keep having at this end and I hope parents will join us in our deliberations.

#AHPrepSchool #AHPrepHead