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  • We have a major problem,

  • which we could call digital depression.

  • In the last six or seven years,

  • the depression rates have increased

  • by about 30 to 40% in teenagers.

  • Suicide rates have gone up 30% among boys,

  • and it literally doubled, 100% increase in teenage girls.

  • There's no biological explanation

  • for this massive increase in depression,

  • anxiety, and suicidality.

  • The suggestion I'm making

  • is that there's a cultural explanation,

  • which is the rise of social media.

  • The average teenager spends about seven hours a day

  • on their smartphone.

  • In general, social media is not passive anymore.

  • It's very interactive.

  • So, you know, you're texting with friends,

  • and you're sending pictures,

  • so there is someone else on the other end.

  • That can be good and that can be bad.

  • You know, if it's a positive relationship,

  • you might feel better.

  • If it's a negative relationship, though,

  • it could make you feel a lot worse.

  • So, for instance, people talk about

  • fear of missing out on an experience,

  • especially with Snapchat, Instagram,

  • where people are, in realtime,

  • talking about where they are.

  • And so with teenager or young adults,

  • the low self-esteem arises

  • from not being invited to a party,

  • or not being around a certain group to go out.

  • Once, or twice, or three times,

  • that probably wouldn't make anyone feel bad,

  • but when it's happening every day,

  • dozens of times,

  • and in a month, hundreds of times,

  • it's very easy for that to add up

  • to reduce that person's self-esteem.

  • As a culture, we have to realize we have a problem,

  • and we have to figure out how to fix it.

  • We basically need to get children to wait,

  • just like they've waited to drive,

  • they wait to drink,

  • they need to wait to responsibly use social media.

  • I would recommend not giving smartphones to children at all.

  • Not giving it to children

  • until they get into the adolescent years,

  • maybe age 13, 14.

  • And then if teenagers have anxiety and depression,

  • I think we should take away their social media,

  • just like you would stop it

  • if they had an alcohol problem or a drug problem.

  • It's really changed childhood and adolescence,

  • and personal experiences for the next generation.

We have a major problem,

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