[corkoman]

A big part of the problem is social media. Teenage girls become addicted to "likes" and they benchmark themselves against each other based on how many "likes" they have. A popularity contest gone mad.

Its killing them inside - mostly the girls - they already have enough issues with self confidence and self-esteem.

Social media is a killing zone and somehow there needs to be a massive effort to educate parents and encourage them to take away the kids smartphones and block the computer apps.

[Tax-chick]

I agree. The online life of most adolescent girls is incredibly toxic, and the governments that took away the real lives of girls are absolutely heartless.

This is not to downplay the effects of the restrictions on boys, who have also experienced a great deal of harm, just usually with a different dynamic.

[bicyclerepair]

Heck I’m an older dude and social media depresses me. Sometimes I have to step away from it for days.

[luckodeirish]

Spot on.
Get them off the damn iPhone and iPad.
Get into 4H, part time work, church clubs, reading clubs, anything other than staring at their “likes” and worshipping Cardi B.

[Flick Lives]

Beyond the increase in suicides, many young children are going to be psychologically affected. Imagine a 1 or 2 year-old growing up in a world where when they interact with people in the outside world, their faces are covered and the child can’t read the person’s expression. That has to have a negative effect developmentally.