At the advent of Facebook in 2004, you had to have a college email address to create an account. Mark Zuckerberg’s creation was a relatively controlled, college-age environment in which you could learn more about and interact with your peers.

Those days are long over, and kids as young as 13 now can log into a wide array of social media platforms.

Thus we are living through an age when kids don’t walk down the street alone, but they have full access to everything online. We warn them about strangers, monitor their whereabouts and pad their bike helmets, yet in the digital world, we offer almost no guardrails at all.

A growing international movement is forming in recognition of the need to do more. Australia’s ban on social media for under 16 went into effect Dec. 10 after years of warnings about youth mental health issues. Denmark has announced plans to move ahead with a ban for anyone younger than 15, and Norway is considering a similar move. 

Leaders here need to pay attention. Many already recognize the myriad ills connected to social media usage.

Consider: Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy in 2024 called for a warning label on social media platforms due to their role in accelerating the mental health crisis among young people. 

“Right now, young people are being exposed to serious harms online and to features that would seek to manipulate their developing brains into excessive use, which may be part of the reason we’re seeing adolescents spending, on average, nearly five hours a day on social media,” he said.

A team of researchers found that when adolescents spend more than three hours a day on social media, they’re more likely to report mental health issues. In survey work from Boston Children’s Hospital’s Digital Wellness Lab, teens commonly reported that social media can worsen body image and interfere with schoolwork. Nearly half of teens said social media makes them feel worse about their bodies, and a third said it affects their grades.

The U.S. needs to follow the lead of other countries that are working diligently to protect kids online. Failure to do so means accepting an online culture that is hurting young Americans. 

Online, they face social pressure at industrial scale. They often come across predatory and harmful content, and risk being coerced into sharing compromising messages and photos. In extreme cases, online harassment and exposure to dangerous material have been linked to tragic outcomes, including suicide.

We understand the temptation to put this back on the parents, recognizing the importance of moms and dads determining what their kids have access to. But expecting parents to navigate this ecosystem safely and effectively is unrealistic.

Society already restricts access to products deemed harmful to minors, such as alcohol, tobacco and gambling. You can’t buy cigarettes until you’re 18 and you can’t drink alcohol legally until you’re 21. If you can’t even attend an R-rated movie on your own until you’re 17, kids shouldn’t be able to wander blindly into the wilds of the internet to fend for themselves when we know all too well the dangers they’ll face.

Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service

Editorial cartoon by Steve Breen (Creators Syndicate)