Widespread Social Media Use Impacting Youth Mental Health: What NJ Is Doing

NEW JERSEY — As New Jersey students scroll through social media at home, before practice – and maybe even under the desk in class – they digest thousands of images, messages, and ideas. But frequent social media use can negatively impact youth, particularly young women, according to a recent advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General.

New Jersey officials have moved forward with legislation designed to study social media usage among Garden State students, with the hopes of pinpointing “effective strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of social media usage on student health and academic performance.”

Gov. Phil Murphy signed a set of bills Monday establishing a commission to study the impact of social media usage, both in and out of school, on adolescents. These bills (S715/A1992) were sponsored by Richard Codey (D-27) and Edward Durr (R-3) in the Senate, and Herb Conaway Jr., (D-7) Carol A. Murphy (D-7), and Benjie E. Wimberly (D-35) in the Assembly. Both passed unanimously, according to Legislature records.

“Social media use is undoubtedly a significant part of many young people’s lives these days, which is why it is so critical to determine the full scope of its impact on students,” Murphy said.

Up to 95 percent of youth aged 13-17 say they use social media, with more than one-third saying they are on social media “almost constantly,” the Surgeon General’s advisory said. And, close to 40 percent of children aged 8-12 use social media despite the fact that the minimum age to join many social platforms is 13, according to the May report by Dr. Vivek Murthy.

What the NJ commission will do

The New Jersey Commission on the Effects of Social Media Usage on Adolescents will also be tasked with studying how social media may impact students’ emotional health and lead to instances of depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia, harassment, intimidation, and bullying.

Commission members will also study any effect social media has on students’ academic performance, and on their physical health (sleep deprivation, weight loss or gain, or high blood pressure), Murphy’s office said.

The commission will be a 19-member commission appointed by legislative leadership and Murphy, including representatives from a variety of NJ school-based associations, nurses, two students, and two parents.

Durr, the lone Republican sponsor of the bills creating the commission, said the widespread use of social media connects young people "to an endless stream of information that can shape their perception of reality and negatively impact their mental and emotional state."

"By studying the impact that social media usage is having on kids today, we can determine ways to limit their exposure to negative information and interactions online," he said in a statement.

Addressing an ongoing issue

Lawmakers have been working on bills surrounding the issue of student mental health as rates of teen anxiety and depression continue to increase, and after a 14-year-old Ocean County teenager died by suicide in early February.

Another bill, signed July 13, expands the type of expenses that K-12 schools may be reimbursed for to allow some school-based mental health services. The state will be able to reimburse districts statewide for students’ behavioral health services, if the students and their families are Medicaid recipients.

The state also rolled out a Statewide Student Support Service (NJ4S) Network.

Data from 2021 shows that 16 percent of high school students said they had been electronically bullied through social media or texting within the last year – more female students than male students.

Teens who have same-sex partners or identify outside the gender binary are more likely to be electronically bullied, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.