Health

NEW YORK — U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned in a new advisory Tuesday that excessive social media use can be a “profound risk” to the mental health of youth in the United States.

“I’m very concerned that social media has become an important contributor to the pain and the struggles that many of our young people are facing,” Murthy said in an interview on ABC News Live.

A surgeon general’s advisory is “reserved for significant public health challenges that require the nation’s immediate awareness and action,” according to the report released by the surgeon general’s office.

The surgeon general said that while we’re in the “middle of a youth mental health crisis” it’s important to identify possible causes. The advisory recognizes that social media has both positive and negative effects on young people, but that ultimately there’s not enough “research and clear data” to determine if it’s “safe” for adolescents to use.

Ninety-five percent of teens are on social media. Although age 13 is commonly the required minimum age for users of social media platforms, nearly 40% of children ages 8 through 12 still use the platforms, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Children and teen users are not only scrolling on these accounts, but are also becoming hooked. Young people on average report spending three and a half hours per day engaging in or creating social media content, according to a study referenced in the advisory.

Murthy calls this “deeply concerning,” as the studies he points to indicate that at least three hours on social media a day doubles a young person’s risk of developing depression and anxiety disorders. The advisory also highlights social media’s negative impact on body image and disordered eating behaviors.

Not only is it “chipping away at their self esteem,” the U.S. surgeon said, but that these platforms are also “taking time away from activities that are critical for health and development.”

On a typical weekday, nearly one in three adolescents report using screen media until midnight or later, the surgeon general told us.

“Poor sleep has been linked to altered neurological development in adolescent brains, depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts and behaviors,” according to a study referenced in the advisory.

Murthy also highlighted the harmful content children are being exposed to on social media, including violence, sexual content, harassment and bullying.

The entire burden of managing social media use in children is currently being placed on parents, according to Murthy, who is also a parent to young children.

“It can’t be on parents alone to manage this,” Murthy told ABC News, detailing why he’s calling for “immediate action” on policymakers and technology companies.

The advisory has a number of suggestions for actions technology companies can take: conducting independent assessments of the impact of their products on adolescents, disclosing findings with researchers, creating effective systems to address complaints and requests from users and their families, as well as prioritizing health and safety while designing products.

“We’ve got to make sure these platforms are actually safe for our kids,” said Murthy. “The way we do with other products that children use, whether it’s medications, cars, car seats, infant formula, we make sure that these are safe so that parents have the support that they need to make the best decisions for their kids.”

The surgeon general’s advisory asks policymakers to create “age-appropriate health and safety standards,” require higher standards for privacy protection, fund future research, support implementation of digital literacy education in schools and require tech companies to share health-related data.

Earlier this month, a bipartisan pair of lawmakers introduced the Kids Online Safety Act, focused on protecting children online and holding social media companies accountable.

Though the bill failed last year, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, after conversations with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, said he has “hope” and expects to have a vote this session.
 

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(NEW YORK) — A new advisory from the U.S. surgeon general warns of an urgent public health issue regarding social media usage and youth mental health.

In the new advisory, released Tuesday, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy calls for more research to determine the extent of mental health impacts on young people, including the type of content generating the most harm, societal factors that could protect youth and ways in which social media can be beneficial.

“To date the burden of protecting youth has fallen predominantly on children, adolescents and their families,” Murthy writes. “The entire burden of mitigating the risk of harm of social media cannot be placed on the shoulders of children and parents.”

Murthy claims in the advisory that technology companies’ “lack of transparency” has created “barriers to understanding the full scope and scale of the impact of social media on mental health and well-being.”

He calls on social media companies to prioritize safety and privacy in their product designs and ensure minimum age requirements are enforced.

Most social media platforms have a minimum user age of 13, which Murthy says he believes is “too early” for kids to be on social media, describing the age as a “time when kids are developing their identity, their sense of self.”

Murthy says the ages of 10 to 19 are a sensitive time, when youth identities are forming, leaving them susceptible to social pressure and peer opinion.

The advisory also outlines how policymakers can enact change in three ways: creating policies limiting access to potentially harmful content, developing curricula about digital and media literacy in schools, and increasing funding for related research.

Murthy also calls on parents to model responsible social media behavior, in addition to the changes recommended for policymakers and social media companies.

He says parents should create family media plans, establish tech-free zones and encourage children to foster in-person friendships.

The advisory comes just weeks after the American Psychological Association issued sweeping recommendations intended to help teenagers use social media safely.

Psychologists say that adolescent brain development starts around age 10 and continues through early adulthood. The APA cautions that sites that use “like” buttons and artificial intelligence to encourage excessive scrolling “may be dangerous for developing brains” and recommends limiting social media use on these types of platforms through phone settings.

Research shows frequent social media use may be associated with distinct changes in the developing brain, including in areas necessary for emotional learning, regulation and impulse control.

Mitchell Prinstein, Ph.D., chief science officer of the APA, told ABC News that as it stands now, the time in life that kids’ brains develop the most is also when they are most exposed to social media.

“The time when most kids get access to social media is actually one of the most sensitive periods of neural development in our lifetimes,” he said.

On average, teens report using social media for 3.5 hours a day, with many spending more than seven hours a day on these platforms, according to Tuesday’s surgeon general’s advisory.

Time is a key component when it comes to assessing social media and mental health risks, as teens who spend more than three hours a day on social media may unknowingly double their risk of poor mental health outcomes, according to the advisory.

Dr. Colette Poole-Boykin, a child psychiatrist and assistant professor at Yale University, told ABC News that the reality may be worse than data shows because children may underestimate the time they report spending on social media.

“Children have difficulty estimating how much time they spend on social media,” she said. “When this happens, it is almost always that they spend far too much unrestricted time on their devices.”

Poole-Boykin noted that cyberbullying can also be an issue for teens on social media, saying, “I have treated multiple patients for mood disorders and concern for suicidality due to bullying and the sharing of intimate information on social media.”

According to the surgeon general’s advisory, 75% of teens say social media sites are only doing a fair to poor job of addressing the issues of cyberbullying and online harassment.

While social media has some benefits, particularly for minority youth who find community, identity-affirming content and other social support online, experts say there is still not enough evidence to say social media is safe for children and teens.

Dr. Neha Chaudhary, child and adolescent psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said she has seen benefits for teens when working in “moderated groups.”

“There’s a power in feeling less alone,” she said, describing “moderated groups” as places where “people can come together to validate one another, share advice and support, and uplift one another, especially if they are facing a common challenge.”

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(NEW YORK) — A 12-year-old Massachusetts girl is being credited with helping save her twin brother’s life.

Amelia Loverme was eating lunch with her twin brother Charlie and their classmates in the school cafeteria this month when Charlie began choking on a slice of cheese.

“I was just really scared because I didn’t know if I would be able to get it out of my throat or if it would just be stuck there,” Charlie told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “I thought I was going to pass out, or like die.”

Surveillance video from the cafeteria shows Charlie stumbling and pointing to his mouth as he seeks help.

As other students back away, seemingly unsure of what to do, Amelia runs in to help her brother, wrapping her arms around him and performing the Heimlich maneuver.

“I just knew that I needed to help him, or try and help him,” Amelia told GMA. “I didn’t know how to do it either. I just did what I thought was right.”

The Heimlich maneuver is designed to be used on people ages 1 and older, specifically when a person is not able to speak, cough or breathe, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians.

When performing the maneuver, the ACEP says to first reach around the waist of the person who is choking, placing one clenched fist above the navel and one below the rib cage.

Then, holding the two fists together, push “backward and upward under the rib cage six to 10 times quickly,” according to the ACEP.

In the surveillance video of Charlie and Amelia, Charlie is able to remove the cheese from his mouth after just a few abdominal thrusts.

Christy Ruth, Charlie and Amelia’s mom, said she is “grateful” that Amelia was looking out for her brother.

“This is the stuff you hope and pray never, ever to happens to one of your children,” Ruth said. “Kids need to pay attention and look out for one another, and I’m just grateful that Amelia did.”

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(NEW YORK) — An advisory committee for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted in favor of drugmaker Pfizer’s application for a new RSV vaccine for pregnant people Thursday, two weeks after the federal agency approved the first RSV vaccine for older adults.

The move is part of a multi-step regulatory process involving both the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The FDA would need to make an approval decision next, which is expected in late August. Pfizer is hoping for an approval by early August, but after the FDA approves a vaccine, the CDC would also need its advisers to weigh in before the agency makes its final decision too.

Vaccine approval is being closely watched ahead of the winter RSV season, which typically surges between December and February.

A new study published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine has shown encouraging data that supports the case for an RSV vaccine during pregnancy. The study data was gathered from a phase three clinical trial with pregnant participants in over 18 countries and showed that when the RSV vaccine is given between 24 and 36 weeks gestation, it appeared immunity passed to the fetus through the placenta. The results also showed the vaccine was effective at preventing severe lower respiratory tract infection and reducing hospitalization.

If approved, the RSV vaccine could be given to those who are pregnant, much like other vaccines available now, including those for Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis), the flu and COVID-19.

According to the CDC, infants and young children, like older adults, are at high risk for RSV, which sends approximately 58,000 to 80,000 children in the U.S. to the hospital each year.

An RSV vaccine for children is also currently in the works.

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(NEW YORK) — An additional person has died in an outbreak linked to contaminated eye drops and more people are reporting they’ve lost their vision.

The number of deaths has risen to four, according to an update issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday and first reported by ABC News.

At least one of the deaths occurred in Washington state, but the CDC did not provide any information on the other victims.

Additionally, at least 14 people have gone blind, up from eight reported during the last update in March. Four people have had their eyeballs surgically removed but that number has not risen.

Patients reported using at least 10 different brands of artificial tears but most cases have been linked to EzriCare and Delsam Pharma eye drops, made by India-based Global Pharma Healthcare.

The eye drops were contaminated with an antibiotic-resistant form of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an aggressive bacterium, according to the CDC.

Pseudomonas are a type of bacteria found in the environment, with P. aeruginosa being the most common to cause infections in humans.

The infection is common in health care settings and spreads from improper hygiene either due to unclean hands or medical equipment and surfaces not being properly cleaned.

P. aeruginosa is resistant to multiple types of antibiotics and has caused about 32,600 infections among U.S. hospitalized patients and an estimated 2,700 deaths, according to the CDC.

The strain that has been linked to the outbreak, however, had never been reported in the United States before, the CDC stated in its update.

As of May 15, 81 people across 18 states have been infected with P. aeruginosa, an increase of 13 patients since the last update.

Symptoms of their infections include yellow, green, or clear discharge from the eye; eye pain or discomfort; red eyes or eyelids; feeling of something in the eye; increased sensitivity to light; and blurry vision.

In February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning, backed by the CDC, urging clinicians and the public not to buy EzriCare Artificial Tears or Delsam Pharma’s Artificial Tears due to potential bacterial contamination.

After the warning, Global Pharma Healthcare issued a voluntary recall of both products, notifying distributors and advising wholesalers, retailers and customers who have the products to stop usage. Global Health Pharma has also issued a recall of Delsam Pharma’s Artificial Ointment.

The CDC and the FDA are warning that anybody who still has these brands immediately stop use and discard. None of the products appear to be able to be bought online.

Among the 13 new cases that were reported to the CDC, six had specimens collected prior to the February recall.

“These cases were confirmed after the recall date due to the time it takes for testing to confirm the outbreak strain and because of retrospective reporting of infections,” the CDC wrote in its update.

Of the seven patients with specimens collected after the recall, they either were living in long-term care facilities with other known cases or were using a recalled brand of artificial tears.

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(NEW YORK) — An Illinois mom is opening up about how she advocated for her teenage daughter to get the correct diagnosis and treatment she needed after she started experiencing life-changing symptoms over a year ago.

Lindsey Sutherland told Good Morning America her daughter Ayli started having unusual symptoms, such as a stiff hand, trouble walking and hallucinations, after she underwent jaw surgery.

“She did not know us. She was seeing things,” Sutherland recalled.

The symptoms were aggressive, according to Sutherland, and kept getting worse, leading to seizures, tics and parts of her 14-year-old daughter’s body freezing in place.

For months, doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong.

At times, Sutherland said her daughter’s behavior was psychotic.

“This was not my child anymore. It was like she wasn’t even in there,” Sutherland said.

Eventually, a friend of Sutherland’s told her Ayli’s symptoms reminded them of a movie called Brain on Fire, which recounts the true story of a young woman with psychotic episodes and seizures who was diagnosed with autoimmune encephalitis, a condition where the immune system attacks the brain.

“It was that story almost to a T. And so I thought, ‘OK, what do I have to lose? I’m calling those doctors from that movie,'” Sutherland said. “I begged and I said, ‘Please just see my child.'”

Doctors eventually diagnosed Ayli with both autoimmune encephalitis and stiff person syndrome, another rare debilitating disorder that iconic singer Celine Dion revealed she had last December. They think stress from Ayli’s jaw surgery may have set off her autoimmune encephalitis.

At Northwell Health’s Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, pediatric neurologist Dr. Juliann Paolicchi started treating Ayli with a couple medications, including steroids.

“The effect was miraculous,” Paolicchi told GMA.

“Our child was starting to come back to us. She could walk down the hall by herself,” Sutherland added.

Paolicchi said the right treatment for Ayli was like night and day.

“It was so striking that it was almost challenging to believe from a medical perspective,” Paolicchi said.

Although there is currently no cure for either autoimmune encephalitis or stiff person syndrome, Ayli’s symptoms are now under better control with the appropriate medications.

Ayli has now also returned to school and is looking ahead to her future.

“I’ve always wanted to work in the medical field but I think now, I’m leaning more towards helping patients that have this,” the 14-year-old said, referring to her conditions.

Sutherland said she encourages other parents to fight for and advocate for their kids’ care.

“If something’s not right in your gut, keep fighting,” Sutherland said. “Don’t stop.”

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(NEW YORK) — As medications like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro used by some for weight loss experience a surge in popularity, they remain out of reach for many people.

The reason is the medications’ cost, which can run more than $1,000 a month without insurance coverage.

“Patients may not have [insurance] coverage, and so, if they elect to use them, they often are paying out-of-pocket,” Dr. Veronica Johnson, an obesity medicine specialist at Northwestern Medicine, told ABC News. “And the costs can be anywhere between $1,000 to $1,500 a month.”

Both Ozempic and Mounjaro are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat Type 2 diabetes, but some doctors prescribe them “off-label” for weight loss. Wegovy is FDA-approved for weight loss for people with obesity or who are overweight.

Insurance coverage for the medications varies, depending on everything from a person’s medical diagnosis to where they live and their insurance plan.

Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are not covered for weight loss under most Medicare and Medicaid programs.

“Health insurance providers work to ensure the right medications are prescribed to the right patients and at an affordable cost,” America’s Health Insurance Plans, a trade association of health insurance companies, told ABC News in a statement, adding, “Evidence … suggests that patients may not be able to maintain their weight loss once they stop taking the drug.”

Among people whose insurance does not cover the medications, some are turning to an alternate option, finding a cheaper off-brand version at a compounding pharmacy.

Tina Straw of Ohio told ABC News she chose to use a compounding pharmacy when her insurance company denied coverage.

“I was like, ‘OK, I can do $1,200 a month for a year, but I can’t … do $1,200 a month indefinitely,” she said. “I’m planning on, you know, hopefully retiring soon.”

Instead of paying $1,200 per month, Straw said she is paying around $300 per month for a generic semaglutide compound.

Semaglutide is the active compound that Ozempic and Wegovy are made of, while Mounjaro contains a compound called tirzepatide.

Compound pharmacies create their own semaglutide or tirzepatide compounds using the raw ingredients.

“A compounding pharmacy is a pharmacy that takes drug components and mixes them together to make a drug,” Dr. Al Carter, executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, told ABC News. “Patients [use compound pharmacies] if they need a specific drug, it’s not available in a market, or if they need a drug that doesn’t have a specific inactive ingredient because of allergy or something else.”

Some medical experts say there are risks associated with getting semaglutide through that route because the compounds can be altered and it’s not clear in many cases from where the drugs are sourced.

“It could be combined with something else that’s not tested or safe, so in general, it’s just really not recommended,” Johnson said of the use of compound pharmacies.

The FDA said while the medications are eligible for compounding because of shortages, the compounded versions “pose a higher risk.”

“Compounded drugs pose a higher risk to patient than FDA-approved drugs because compounded drugs do not undergo FDA premarket review for safety, effectiveness, or quality,” the agency said in a statement. “The FDA’s compounding program aims to protect patients from poor quality compounded drugs, while preserving access to lawfully marketed compounded drugs for patients.”

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy says many compound pharmacies are safe and are regulated by the states.

“Of these medications [used for weight loss], where I would get concerned is when you are going to purchase these compounded products online,” Carter said.

Experts say people who would like to take the brand names of the medications should check on their insurance coverage every few months because the coverage may change.

Eli Lilly, the maker of Mounjaro, said in April that it expects the medication could be approved by the FDA for weight loss as early as the end of the year.

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(ATLANTA) — The mpox vaccination campaign after an outbreak swept the United States last year was highly effective at preventing infection, new federal data showed.

One dose of the JYNNEOS vaccine was 75% effective and two doses of the vaccine were 86% effective, a new study published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

Among patients who are immunocompromised, one dose of the vaccine was 51% effective and two doses were 70.2% effective.

CDC officials said the results showed the importance of at-risk populations getting vaccinated or getting a second dose among those who’ve only been partially vaccinated ahead of summer.

As of March 31, nearly 31,000 mpox cases and 42 deaths have been reported since the outbreak struck last year, according to the report.

During the height of the outbreak, cases were, in some instances, doubling every week. Although anyone — regardless of sexual orientation — is at risk if they have direct contact with an infected patient, the outbreak was primarily concentrated in men who have sex with men, a group that includes people who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender and nonbinary.

In response, health officials began advising anyone with known exposure to mpox or who might be at risk of exposure to get vaccinated with the JYNNEOS vaccine, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2019.

To increase the number of JYNNEOS doses available, the FDA authorized a proven strategy in August to inject the vaccine intradermally, just below the first layer of skin, rather than subcutaneously, or under all the layers of skin.

This allows one vial of vaccine to be given out as five separate doses rather than a single dose.

Since summer 2022, more than 1.2 million doses have been administered. However, there has been limited data on the effectiveness of the vaccine, so the CDC conducted a study comparing vaccine effectiveness among sexually active men who have sex with men or transgender people between ages 18 and 49.

Between August 2022 and March 2023, a total of 309 patients who were vaccinated were compared with 608 patients who were not.

Not only was the vaccine shown to be effective, but also there was little difference in vaccine effectiveness when it came to the method by which the shot was administered, whether subcutaneously or intradermally.

“Vaccination is an important tool for preventing mpox, and this report demonstrates that the JYNNEOS vaccine is effective at reducing risk for mpox,” the report said. “However, additional pre-cautions to reduce exposure should be considered, particularly among immunocompromised persons” including limiting the number of sexual partners and one-time sexual encounters.”

The study comes as the CDC and the Chicago Department of Public Health reported a recent outbreak of mpox.

Twenty-one cases in Chicago have been diagnosed, with most among gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men, the CDC said during a press briefing with reporters Thursday morning.

Some cases did occur among previously vaccinated individuals, but there could be explanations including decreased immunity over time or infected patients being immunocompromised, the officials said.

This demonstrates “the ongoing risk for new cases and outbreaks and the need for continued vigilance and prevention efforts,” Dr. Christopher Braden, the CDC mpox response incident manager, said during the briefing.

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(NEW YORK) — An advisory committee for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to meet Thursday to discuss drugmaker Pfizer’s application for a new RSV vaccine for pregnant people, two weeks after the federal agency approved the first RSV vaccine for older adults.

A new study published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine has shown encouraging data that supports the case for an RSV vaccine during pregnancy. The study data was gathered from a phase three clinical trial with pregnant participants in over 18 countries and showed that when the RSV vaccine is given between 24 and 36 weeks gestation, it appeared immunity passed to the fetus through the placenta. The results also showed the vaccine was effective at preventing severe lower respiratory tract infection and reducing hospitalization.

If approved, the RSV vaccine could be given to those who are pregnant, much like other vaccines available now, including those for Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis), the flu and COVID-19.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, infants and young children, like older adults, are at high risk for RSV, which sends approximately 58,000 to 80,000 children in the U.S. to the hospital each year.

It’s likely the FDA may approve the RSV vaccine option for pregnant individuals as early as this summer, ahead of the winter RSV season, which typically surges between December and February. Pfizer is hoping for an approval by early August but after the FDA approves a vaccine, the CDC would also need greenlight the vaccine too.

An RSV vaccine for children is also currently in the works.

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(NEW YORK) — An ongoing parenting debate about when it’s appropriate to give a child a smartphone has been reignited, ironically, on social media.

Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist and professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, shared a post to Instagram on Monday stating his belief that parents should wait until their child is in high school to give them a smartphone.

In calling on parents to wait, Grant, a bestselling author with nearly two million Instagram followers, cited his own family’s experience, as well as a new report that he said showed a negative correlation between mental health and getting a smartphone earlier in life.

“We were among the holdout parents,” Grant wrote in an Instagram post that now has over 130,000 likes. “We know it’s not easy, but the evidence is clear: even if kids under 14 need phones for communication, they don’t need smartphones or social media. It’s time for parents to align on waiting so it isn’t just a few kids being left out.”

Among the thousands of comments left on Grant’s post were people on both sides of the debate, with some agreeing that no kid should have a smartphone until high school, and others arguing the decision is more nuanced than that.

“It’s ridiculous to think that it’s only a one household decision,” one commenter wrote, in part. “When kids are surrounded by peers with some thing like a smart phone, it’s impossible for them to not think that they are excluded.”

“This is the world we live in now, and I don’t understand why so many parents think we can ignore it or put up a united front against phones,” wrote another commenter.

Some commenters shared that they want their child to be able to communicate their whereabouts with parents, while others commenters emphasized that mental health struggles cannot be blamed on phones alone.

“Great, another thing to shame parents and make them feel bad about themselves,” one commenter wrote. “Why don’t we focus on learning more about mental health and how to support those suffering from it rather than blaming parents for letting their child have too much screen time so the holdout parents can feel superior.”

Many parents, however, shared in the comments their own experiences with waiting until their kids were older to give them phones.

“We waited till 18. They had a flip phone before that so they could reach us from anywhere. They hate social media. It worked,” one commenter wrote.

“Couldn’t agree with this more!,” wrote another commenter. “Our 13 year old is not on smartphone or social media and it shows!”

Several commenters also agreed with the idea that parents can have an impact, with one writing, “We need more parents aligned on creating the ‘norm’ for smartphone use (or lack thereof).”

Grant declined to comment to ABC News.

Brooke Shannon, a mom of three daughters in Texas, is the founder of Wait Until 8th, a movement in which parents sign a pledge to not get their child a smartphone before 8th grade.

Shannon told ABC News the pledge is important because she believes it has to be a “community effort” to successfully limit young people’s screen time on phones, with parents, coaches, schools and kids all on board.

According to Shannon, what started out nearly seven years ago as a small effort among the parents of her daughters’ friends has grown into a national movement with over 40,000 families from across the country having signed the pledge.

“I think because so many parents struggle with this same question, it just spread very quickly,” Shannon said, adding she believes the movement has also grown because of the growing body of research showing the potential impact of screen time on young people.

“There are so many studies,” she said, adding, “‘When you look at the amount of research, you just want to shout it from the rooftops, ‘Parents just wait. There’s no hurry.'”

Shannon said her oldest daughter just received her first smartphone last year, at the start of her freshman year of high school. She does not have access to the internet or any social media apps on the phone, according to Shannon.

“It’s basically like a communication device, where she can text, she can call, she can FaceTime, she can listen to music and take photos,” Shannon said. “That has worked really well for our family, to just take it very slowly and to keep it very simple.”

Dr. Hina Talib, a board-certified pediatrician and adolescent specialist in New York City, said she hears from parents daily with questions about their teens and phones and social media.

She said in her opinion, it’s hard to issue a blanket age at which it’s OK to give a child a phone and access to social media.

“The reality is just way more nuanced than these headlines,” Talib told ABC News. “The best advice is really particular to the child in front of you. There’s no doubt that social media for some teens can be harmful, but there are still groups of teens who are able to engage with their friends … and their interests in helpful ways.”

Talib said she believes a better approach is to decide on a more individual level when a child is ready for a smartphone, and then give more access to the phone with “more skills gained and responsibility earned.”

“For example, you might start with just using it as a communication tool having text only or music only, and then over time, try out other applications and eventually social media,” Talib said. “But even then, it should always be an ongoing, by-way communication between you and your adolescent and young adult as they continue to develop their relationship with technology.”

How to know if your child is ready for a phone

Talib said she encourages parents to use a free 10-question tool from the American Academy of Pediatrics and AT&T to help them decide if their child is ready for a smartphone.

The tool asks questions like how often a child would need the phone to communicate with others, how responsible the child is in other activities, like turning in school assignments, and how well the child follows rules about other media, like TV or video games.

If a child is ready for a phone, the AAP also has a free tool where parents can work with their child to create a media plan that works for their own family.

Parents also have a resource through the American Psychological Association, which earlier this month issued the first guidance of its kind on teenagers and social media.

The guidance contains 10 recommendations designed to ensure that teens get the proper training on how use social media safely. For most families, that means starting with an active discussion about which sites teens are using, how often and how those experiences make them feel.

In addition to setting limits, the APA strongly encourages ongoing discussions about social media use and active supervision, especially in early adolescence. Parents are encouraged to model healthy social media use, including taking social media “holidays” as a family.

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