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Editor’s note: This is the fourth in an ongoing series about youth mental health. The series will culminate with a Screen-Free Week for the whole community May 4-10.

Whether it’s educating children on responsible social media and phone use or implementing cell phone-free zones, there is much that parents can do to improve their child’s well-being tied to electronic devices.

Sue Abderholden, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Minnesota, said both the U.S. Surgeon General and the American Psychological Association have come out with advisories about social media use and youth mental health.

While most of the research says people should be concerned about youth social media use, it is also important to teach youth how to use devices responsibly.

“It’s really an important developmental period,” Abderholden said. “They’re becoming their own sense of self.”

As teenagers, it’s also a time youth can be more vulnerable to things such as discrimination and hate speech, focusing on body image and online bullying.

While some youth in the LGBTQ community and others with disabilities or who feel like they don’t fit in might find a place they belong on social media, for many others it can be damaging.

She referenced a statistic from the American Psychological Association that states that 41% of teens with the highest social media use (more than five hours a day) rated their overall mental health as poor or very poor, compared with 23% of those with the lowest use.

LiveMore ScreenLess, a Minnesota-based organization with a focus on promoting digital well-being for and with youth, said research shows that screen misuse and overuse negatively affect not only mental well-being, but it also physical well-being, cognitive well-being, social well-being and emotional well-being.

With social well-being, screen misuse and overuse may lead to isolation, loneliness, decreased confidence, decreased ability to interact in-person with others and decreased communication. With emotional well-being, screen misuse and overuse can affect irritability, lack of motivation, moodiness, regulating emotions and feeling overwhelmed.

Physical effects can be seen such as headaches, eye strain, aches in the neck, shoulder and back, fatigue and increased sedentary time.

How to get started reducing my child’s social media use

Abderholden encouraged parents to start with figuring out how much time their child is spending online. iPhones tell the user weekly how much screen time per day is spent on phone.

When parents want to limit their child’s phone use, it is critical they model that behavior themselves.

She advised implementing no cell phone zones in bedrooms to allow children to get the proper amount of sleep. She also advised not allowing them to multi-task and be on their phones when they are eating or doing other tasks, such as watching a show on TV.

“You want to be concerned if your child can’t give it up,” she said, pointing to addiction.

Abderholden said it is also important, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, to encourage youth to engage more with people in-person.

“Those are skills they need to learn to convert into adulthood,” she said, whether it’s for jobs or other circumstances.

How do I know if my child is ready for a phone?

Parents should gauge whether their child is ready for a cell phone based on age, maturity and what they will use the device for.

“Truly, 10- and 11- and 12-year-olds don’t need to be on social media,” she said, noting they can get a simple phone if they need to call for rides after school. “They might feel some peer pressure, but it’s not good for your brain.”

She said the Surgeon General has said that 13 is still too young for social media, as it is not good for brain development and sense of self. She acknowledged that by high school, it is hard not to have a smartphone, but with that, parents need to educate their children on the use of their device, whether it be in not sharing personal data, recognizing what is real and what is fake and what to do if they see something defamatory or someone bullying another. Parents also need to teach them how to use the phone well and how to recognize when it’s affecting their mental health.

She said in the past when someone is bullying they could go home from school and close the door and feel relief from the bully, but now with 24/7 social media, that is not the case. That is why it is so important to have technology-free zones, especially in bedrooms, so youth can get a break and get better sleep.

There are also bags parents can put their child’s phones in at night, similar to the ones some school districts are implementing that lock overnight.

LiveMore ScreenLess offers a free family and caregiver toolkit to learn more about how to support the digital well-being of youth at https://livemorescreenless.org/our-family-caregiver-toolkit/.