Splashed all over the “news” last week is the reporting that came from the testimony of Frances Haugen, the so-called Facebook whistleblower, telling us breathlessly that Facebook has done research on the effects of its platform on its users.

Collecting data on users is the entire basis for Facebook’s existence, so, yeah, of course they do. One of the findings that broke the Internet last week is the stunning revelation that Instagram – the pictures and captions platform that is owned by Facebook and extremely popular with teenagers – has a negative impact on those teenagers.

Even more specifically, Facebook’s research says that Instagram makes teenage girls feel bad about themselves, resulting in a whole rainbow of disorders from body dysmorphia to suicidal ideation. There you have the core problem – it was Facebook’s internal research that documented this and it was only through a former employee leaking the report that the public knows about it.

Now before you hit me with the Nancy Reagan “Just Say No” reply, hear me out about why there’s actually a thing here that we should look at when it comes to regulation.

It’s a pretty non-controversial position in our society that minor children should not drink alcohol. We can all agree that drinking alcohol is a grown-up privilege that requires a certain amount of judgment and self-control. In our community, we’ve seen more than sufficient examples of young people drinking to excess and making some very bad choices.

There’s science to be considered here. During the teenage years, the human brain is still growing and developing some of its most sophisticated systems to manage the emerging adult. Very importantly, the frontal lobe is still growing and developing executive function – judgment and decision-making, problem solving and impulse control.

We all know that teenagers (and I say this with love) can be… dramatic. A fight with a friend or a romantic breakup can feel like the end of the world. Not “in a manner of speaking” – the actual end of everything. Uncontrollable sorrow.

For kids with a significant number Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES), this can mean even more vulnerability. For these children, the fight or flight response is more prominent as the frontal lobe is under-developed. They’re more prone to mental health struggles, various addiction problems and impulse control.

Enter social media and the peer pressures of all your friends being connected on these platforms. I enjoy using social media. I get a lot of information and entertainment from it, but if that platform started filling my feed with suggested topics that were violent, sexually graphic or simply malicious, I would quickly tap the little “X”, close that window and continue to do so until that platform “learned” that this stuff is not for me. If that didn’t work, I’d complain, then ultimately pull the plug.

This would have little effect on my quality of life and friendships. I’d have to plaster my cat and grandkid photos into emails and irritate my friends that way. They can take it.

For teenagers, there is almost no time now that does not feature a smart phone in one hand and eyes focused on what they find there – including the thoughts of a friend who might be sitting three feet away from them. Regardless of the rudeness of that behavior at the dinner table, that phenomenon is simply bad for their brain development.

I don’t need any proof beyond this information… reported out years ago: Social media executives don’t allow their own children to use their platforms. They know it’s bad for them. They protect their own kids. We should all do the same, just as we have with forbidding their use of alcohol and for the same reason.

To learn more about ACES, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html

jean bolducJean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.

Readers can reach Jean via email – jean@penandinc.com and via Twitter @JeanBolduc

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