Educator Wellness Podcast · Scanlan Center for School Mental Health, University of Iowa

The Social Media Tug-of-War: How Much is “Too Much” for our Students?

·48 min·3 clips

Dr. Jackie Nesi says screen time becomes too much when it displaces sleep, exercise, outdoor time, or social interaction.

1. The Educator Wellness Podcast episode The Social Media Tug-of-War: How Much is “Too Much” for our Students? examines children's and adolescents' technology and social-media use. 2. Dr. Kira Vogelgesang, a former elementary school teacher and host, interviews Dr. Jackie Nisi, a Brown University clinical psychologist and assistant professor who researches technology and youth mental health. 3. Vogelgesang and Nisi ask how parents and educators can judge when technology supports young people and when it begins displacing healthier developmental activities. 4. Nisi traces her research interest to 2012 outdoor adventure and service trips where removing high-school students' devices increased engagement and reduced reported stress. 5. Nisi says activities occupying substantial time during adolescence can influence how young people see themselves, see the world, and develop emotionally and socially. 6. She says younger children commonly encounter television, tablets, children's shows, apps, and games before traditionally defined social media. 7. Nisi reports that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screens under age one except accompanied FaceTime and suggests about an hour or less for younger children. 8. For older children, Nisi says the American Academy of Pediatrics no longer gives a fixed daily limit because devices serve many functions and a two-hour rule is not realistic. 9. Nisi recommends examining whether technology interferes with sleep, face-to-face interaction, exercise, or time outside, as well as examining the quality of the content. 10. She says phones beside beds can expose children to notifications, messages, late-night use, and poorer sleep quality. 11. Nisi describes social-media outcomes as varying by the young person's prior circumstances, the content encountered, and the way the platform is used. 12. She says young people already struggling offline, including those experiencing bullying or impulsivity, may encounter amplified difficulties online. 13. Nisi also says marginalized young people can find community, support, and identity affirmation online when those resources are harder to find offline. 14. In a nationally representative Common Sense Media survey of girls ages 11 to 15, LGBTQ participants reported both more negative online experiences and more connection and identity affirmation. 15. Nisi declines to identify one universally harmful app because Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat increasingly share features such as video, messaging, recommendations, and disappearing content. 16. She identifies TikTok as the most-used platform among preteens, teens, and young adults in the discussion, emphasizing that its algorithm can give different users very different feeds. 17. Nisi says notifications and infinite scroll function as attention-retaining design features, and explaining those features to teens may improve their ability to regulate use. 18. The episode uses a conversational interview format in which Vogelgesang repeatedly translates Nisi's research into questions for educators, administrators, and parents. 19. Educators and parents seeking practical social-media boundaries. 20. Listeners wanting a simple universal screen-time rule.

As heard by us

A grounded look at why social media for adolescents resists a single simple rule.

The Educator Wellness Podcast, hosted by Dr. Kira Vogelgesang, takes on social media and adolescents with a steady, measured tone. It speaks to educators and parents who may want a simple answer, while admitting the reality is more complicated than that.

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You want a calmer way to think about the social-media-and-adolescents question.

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