4 Science-Backed Tips for Parents on Kids’ Social Media Use
Mitch Prinstein · American Psychological Association
Advice about children and social media usually arrives as either panic or shrug. This is neither.
Mitch Prinstein, the American Psychological Association's chief science officer, reduces the research on adolescent social media use to four concrete guidelines for parents: what the evidence supports, stated plainly and without overclaiming.
Delay
Treat first access as a decision, not a default.
Coach
Teach the platform rather than only limiting it.
Monitor
Stay involved as independence increases.
It carries the weight of the APA rather than an opinion column, and it is short enough to send to a parent who will not read a report.
Parent newsletters, device-policy conversations, and any family navigating a first phone or first account.
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American Psychological Association · June 9, 2023 · 2:21
Research on adolescent social media use is still developing and findings continue to be debated.