2-10-2026 11:44pm

Social Media Dependency Among Children: A Public Administration and Public Safety Imperative

John Williams Editor

Photo by Bruce Mars on Unsplash

by Dr Shellie M Bowman
Editor, Public Agenda
Senior Columnist, The Spotsylvania Gazette

The escalating role of social media in the daily lives of children and adolescents has become a matter of public administration, not private preference. What was once framed as a parental or educational concern now intersects with public health, school governance, consumer protection, and youth safety. The question for public leaders is no longer whether social media affects children, but how government should respond when empirical evidence demonstrates measurable harm and institutional strain.
Defining problematic social media use using evidence-based criteria
Scholars increasingly avoid colloquial references to “addiction” when discussing youth social media use, instead relying on symptom-based frameworks grounded in behavioral science. One widely cited instrument, the Social Media Disorder Scale, identifies problematic use through observable criteria including preoccupation, withdrawal symptoms, tolerance, persistence despite harm, displacement of essential activities, conflict with others, and mood modification (Van den Eijnden et al., 2016).
Longitudinal research applying this framework demonstrates that a subset of adolescents exhibit stable patterns of problematic social media use over time, rather than transient or situational overuse (Boer et al., 2022). These findings support treating the issue as a public health risk pattern, not a moral judgment or generational critique.
The U.S. Surgeon General has further acknowledged that social media platforms present “a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents,” particularly when exposure is excessive, unsupervised, or algorithmically amplified (Murthy, 2023).
Observable indicators relevant to households and schools
Evidence-based research and public health guidance converge around several observable indicators that do not require clinical diagnosis but warrant intervention when persistent:

Loss of control, such as repeated inability to disengage despite clear negative consequences.
Withdrawal-related distress, including irritability or anxiety when access is restricted.
Functional impairment, such as sleep disruption, academic decline, or social withdrawal.
Mood-regulation reliance, where digital engagement becomes a primary coping mechanism for stress or negative emotion.

These indicators align with validated measurement tools and are particularly relevant to schools and pediatric providers tasked with early identification and referral (Boer et al., 2022; Murthy, 2023).

Case illustration: Youth harm and algorithmic exposure

The 2022 inquest into the death of British teenager Molly Russell provides a documented case study frequently referenced in regulatory and policy discussions. The coroner concluded that Russell died by suicide while suffering from depression and that her condition was materially influenced by exposure to online content related to self-harm and suicide (Chief Coroner of England and Wales, 2022).

While no single case establishes causation for all youth outcomes, the findings illustrate how algorithmic content delivery, combined with developmental vulnerability, can exacerbate risk in ways that exceed the control of parents alone. This case has informed ongoing regulatory reforms in the United Kingdom and continues to shape comparative policy debates.

Implications for public administration and governance

Failure to address problematic social media use among children carries tangible institutional consequences:

Public health system strain, including increased demand for youth mental health services.
Educational disruption, particularly related to sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, and peer conflict.
Public safety concerns, including exposure to harmful content and escalation of self-harm risk.
Regulatory legitimacy risks, as public trust erodes when governments appear unable to protect minors from foreseeable harm.

From a governance perspective, this issue exemplifies the limits of voluntary corporate self-regulation and underscores the need for administrative coordination across agencies.

Legal and regulatory considerations

In the United States, multiple state attorneys general have initiated legal actions alleging that social media companies knowingly designed platforms that contribute to youth harm through engagement-driven features. These cases do not resolve scientific debates but establish that risk foreseeability and duty of care are now active legal questions.

Simultaneously, state legislatures have advanced youth-focused digital safety laws addressing age verification, parental consent, and platform accountability. Although these efforts vary in scope and durability, they signal a broader regulatory shift toward treating youth digital exposure as a matter of consumer and child protection.

Policy actions available to public leaders now

Public administrators need not wait for comprehensive federal legislation. Evidence supports several immediately executable strategies:

Public health framing
Establish youth digital wellbeing initiatives aligned with prevention, early identification, and referral models.
School-centered safeguards
Require transparency and governance standards for digital platforms used in educational settings, including reporting and response protocols.
Parental support infrastructure
Distribute evidence-based tools, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Family Media Plan, through schools and health departments.
Cross-sector coordination
Convene task forces involving education, public health, legal counsel, and community organizations to monitor impacts and guide policy adjustment.
Data-informed oversight
Track indicators such as sleep disruption, counseling referrals, cyberbullying incidents, and disciplinary trends to assess intervention effectiveness.

Resources for households and institutions

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (United States): Immediate support for individuals experiencing emotional distress.
American Academy of Pediatrics Family Media Plan: Practical guidance for household digital boundaries.
School district reporting systems: Formal mechanisms for addressing cyberbullying and online threats.
Local health departments: Access points for youth behavioral health services and parental education.

Conclusion

Social media dependency among children is not a cultural distraction. It is an emerging governance challenge with direct implications for public health capacity, educational stability, and youth safety. Effective leadership requires moving beyond rhetorical concern toward structured, evidence-based execution. Public administrators are uniquely positioned to do so by aligning law, policy, and institutional practice in service of the public interest.

References

Boer, M., Stevens, G. W. J. M., Finkenauer, C., de Looze, M. E., & van den Eijnden, R. J. J. M. (2022). The course of problematic social media use in young adolescents: A latent class growth analysis. Child Development, 93(2), e168–e182. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13793

Chief Coroner of England and Wales. (2022). Inquest into the death of Molly Russell. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary.

Murthy, V. H. (2023). Social media and youth mental health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/youth-mental-health

Van den Eijnden, R. J. J. M., Lemmens, J. S., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2016). The Social Media Disorder Scale. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 478–487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.038

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