Press release: September 2024

HALF OF YOUNG PEOPLE CAN’T QUIT THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA HABIT, EVEN IF IT CAUSES HARM

The theme of stem4’s Youth Mental Health Day (19 September) is #ControlYourScroll

Young people are calling for better controls on social media networks to protect them from manipulation, bullying and harm

Children and young people in the UK say they are being put at risk by social media apps, whose persuasive design is exposing them to dangerous content and activity, a survey of 1,025 children and young people by the UKs leading digital mental health charity stem4 has found.

Today, a substantial majority (86%) of 12-to-21 year olds are deeply concerned about the negative impact social media is having on their physical and mental health, and are worried that not enough is being done by social media networks to stop to the proliferation of harmful content such as disinformation, misinformation and fake news (59%), scams and fraud (58%), online bullying (52%), sharing of inappropriate sexual images (40%), trolling (32%).  Yet despite these perceived risks, four in ten (41%) 12-to-21 year olds are unable to disengage and overcome social media’s persuasive design, and would still use apps that had the potential to cause harm, rising to 45% among 12-to-14 year olds.

These findings come from a major new survey by youth mental health charity stem4.1 It was commissioned to mark Youth Mental Health Day (19 September), which this year takes the theme #ControlYourScroll in acknowledgement of the many hidden and overt harms that young people can face on social networks, and struggle to turn away. stem4’s CEO and consultant clinical psychologist, Dr Nihara Krause MBE, has today launched a comprehensive guide for young people on how to control their scroll. The guide covers everything from how to minimise negative content and connections on social feeds, to regulating the time spent online, and making better choices in who to follow. Meanwhile, schools and organisations across the UK have come together to share ideas on how to #ControlYourScroll.
Dr Nihara Krause MBE, consultant clinical psychologist, CEO, and founder of youth mental health charity, stem4, commented:
“A circular relationship exists between young people’s online lives and mental health. Amidst the positives of being online (learning, connecting and creativity), what this survey shows is that even when young people are at risk of physical and mental harm, they find regulating their use difficult.  For example, they are exposed to self-harm and suicide, are vulnerable to negative connections through radical forums and cyberbullying, experience body image pressures, are influenced by disinformation, and impacted by algorithms.”
“Although banning phones and apps for under 16s may seem sensible, young people will still find ways to get on social media, and their exposure to dangerous and harmful content will continue.   Young people need to develop digital skills, and be more digitally literate to spot disinformation and know how to get help, and stay safe. This is what stem4 is striving for, and through our new guide #ControlYourScroll, we hope to provide young people with better knowledge and skills.”
Consultant child psychiatrist, and stem4 clinical director Dr Richard Graham, who together with Dr Krause, pioneered the Ofcom endorsed Online Safety First Aid (OSFA) training, delivered to over 500 professionals and now being rolled out to parents and carers, commented.
“What adults often struggle to see is that many young people do want to be able to have time away from their devices. But the many techniques of persuasive design keep them on-screen, potentially exposed to extreme and toxic content, pushed by merciless algorithms, that they can’t catch a break from. We want to give young people more skills, to manage what they see, whilst also demanding that the companies design their products to support better mental health, to help young people disengage in support of healthy development. The current situation exploits their positive desires to connect in a manner that is almost cruel.”
Young people are calling for better controls on social media networks to protect them from manipulation, bullying and harm
Social media apps are core to the social lives of young people.  Instead of banning teenagers from using smart phones, young people are calling for better and safer technology that recognises their need to connect.  As a matter of urgency, they want:
  1. Age-appropriate protections’ for under 16s, with ID verification checks, or age gating limits on what under 16s can search for and interact with.
  2. Ban on AI Deep fakes created to cause harm, and clear labelling on AI generated/edited content.
  3. Introduction of digital stickers when stories are factchecked to limit fake news.
  4. Reduced profiling of young people and more balanced algorithms, only pushing genuine factchecked, non-AI generated content.
  5. Simple to use safety settings, allowing users to exclude triggering content, AI generated content, advertiser endorsed content, switch off algorithms, and report trolls, scammers and spreaders of fake news.
  6. Default safety settings, which don’t require high level digital skills to protect young people from harm.
  7. Ban on profiling of young people, and using their personal data, as in Standard 12 of the Age-Appropriate Design Code. Algorithms should not push extreme and harmful content, even if trending to a young audience.
  8. Use AI for good. Scanning and banning of scammers, bullies and fake news.
  9. Enforcement action and fines for social media networks who fail to implement restrictions.
To help parents transfer their offline parenting skills into the digital landscape, stem4 will be hosting a parenting conference Demystifying Parenting in an Online World, on Thursday 26 September 2024, 7pm, at Emanual School, London SW11 1HS.
Notes to editors
References
  1. Survey of 1,025 regionally representative young people in the UK aged from 12 to 21 carried out by Survey Goo between 21 & 27 May 2024
For further information, please contact
SENSO Communications
Penny Lukats, 07775 992350, penny@sensocommunications.com

About Youth mental health Day, 19 September 2024
The theme of this year’s campaign is #ControlYourScroll.  As the digital landscape continues to evolve at pace, it can present many positive opportunities as well as many hidden and overt harms that young people didn’t have to face ten years ago. That is why stem4 has chosen to dedicate Youth Mental Health Day 2024 to the theme #ControlYourScroll, in the hope we can equip young people with the simple digital hacks and mental health strategies needed for a positive and safe online experience.
About stem4
stem4 is an award-winning charity that supports teenagers with their mental health. It provides evidence-based education, builds resilience, enhances motivation to change, and provides signposts to ensure early intervention and action. stem4 focuses on commonly occurring mental health issues in teenagers including eating disorders, anxiety, depression, self-harm, and addiction.
The charity works with students, parents and teachers in secondary schools and colleges, and with health professionals such as GPs and school nurses through its conference programme and through its digitally delivered workshops suitable for PHSE in schools. stem4 is also included in the Royal College of GP toolkit.
■ stem4’s free, evidence-based, smartphone apps

With children and young people experiencing difficulty and long waiting times in accessing effective treatments, stem4 has developed four NHS-approved smartphone apps, all based on evidence-based strategies, to help young people in the treatment of and recovery from their mental health difficulties. These apps have been downloaded and used over 3 million times. These apps include:
  • Clear Fear, which uses the evidence-based treatment Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) to help manage the symptoms of anxiety;
  • Calm Harm, which uses the basic principles of an evidence-based therapy, Dialectic Behaviour Therapy (DBT) to help manage the urge to self-harm;
  • Move Mood, which uses Behavioural Activation Therapy to help improve low mood and manage the symptoms of depression;
  • Combined Minds, which uses a Strengths-Based approach that has been shown to be effective in recovery, providing practical strategies for families and friends to support teenage mental health,
  • Worth Warrior, which uses the principles of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Eating Disorders (CBT-E) to overcome issues of negative body image, low self-worth, and related early-stage eating difficulties or disorders.