FAIRMONT – As it works its way through legal challenges, a change in state law is planned to require social media platforms to display a mental health warning to users in Minnesota each time they are accessed, including links to mental health resources.

The change was meant to go into effect July 1, but a lawsuit has been filed by NetChoice, a group representing social media messages. A motion has been filed by the MN Attorney General’s Office to dismiss the lawsuit and, if the dismissal is accepted, the AG’s Office has stated it will move to enforce the new law.

In his practice, Licensed Psychologist Joseph Switras, PhD, said he has seen the effects of social media on youth and their development.

“They got free rein,” he said. “They’re not actually looking somebody in the face when they’re talking about what they don’t like or accusing things. The whole idea of social face-to-face contact gets lost along the way. I’ve had kids come in and say they don’t need friends because they got friends online, they got friends on the video games they play.”

The younger the introduction to social media, Switras said kids begin to learn to live digitally instead of face-to-face.

“Developing social skills, appropriate ways to communicate, being able to read how somebody reacts to what you say by the look on their face, their tone of voice, it doesn’t help at all,” he said. “We’re social creatures, and the more impediments you have in the way of just normal social interaction, it’s not a good thing.”

Martin County Empower Coalition Project Coordinator Shelly Larsen said she has been following data such as the Minnesota Student Survey, which has shown concerning trends among young people.

“That includes increasing reports of anxiety, more students reporting persistent sadness or hopelessness, ongoing concerns about depression and significant numbers of students reporting cyberbullying,” she said. “Sleep problems have become increasingly common among adolescents. We’re seeing that, and we have the data to back it up now.”

Some of this was seen at the local level as well, from feedback students gave after watching the educational film Screenagers.

“We did have youth raise their hands to say that they are on their phones in the middle of the night, and some of them, it’s more than one night a week,” Larsen said. “It’s two and three times a week, so you know, we know that that’s happening.”

As for in-school usage of smartphones for social media, Larsen said they have seen Martin County schools doing a fantastic job of handling the situation.

“It’s never going to be a perfect situation, but from what we can see we’ve noticed changes, and with our youth, I think it’s all in a good direction,” she said. “Kids are able to focus more on their classes and their studies, and not have the distraction of phones.”

On this new ruling, Larsen said she thinks it is a great step.

“It can help our society as a whole pause and reconsider time spent on a device, then think about what else they might want to be doing,” she said. “Not everybody knows there can be mental health issues that can come from social media addiction. The likes, follows, all of that is like a hit. It’s a release. Just make encouraged and informed decisions with your kids, having those good conversations about social media usage.”

Switras, on the other hand, isn’t as convinced it will be an effective measure.

“It’s going to go right along with smoking causes cancer,” he said. “Has that stopped a lot of people from smoking? You can warn them all you want. If they like what they’re doing, they’re going to do it anyway.”

Looking at further steps, Switras said he would like to see an informed age limit added to social media platforms.

“Having an age limit where if somebody actually does the research on that, they can come up with a reasonable limit,” he said. “Not something off the top of somebody’s head, but something based on research that shows that the majority of kids will say it’s 15 or 18 or whatever, that makes sense to me.”

For families looking to address issues surrounding social media, like addiction to usage, Switras said they should cut it off and start to regulate it.

“Be able to expect and deal with the kids’ reaction to it,” he said. “Use it not as taking it away as a punishment, but use access to it as a reward. That way, it’s better for the parent-child relationship. They can get some of the behavior, maybe a lot of the behavior that they want from their kids by using access to those things as a reward, because punishing a kid will not make a good kid; it just gets them to stop bad behavior.”

On the school side, Larsen said social media is an issue they are still focused on moving forward.

“We have started a youth mental health advisory committee,” she said. “Those students have been trained in modules that are put on by Erica’s Lighthouse, which is an evidence-based suicide prevention curriculum and campaign. Our students over the summer are being trained to then go forward to do presentations and provide education to their peers in the schools for the next school year.”