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Growing up has never been easy, but for families today, it can seem even more daunting. Adolescence is a time of big change for kids, and dealing with emotions, school, and outside events can be overwhelming sometimes. As a parent, it’s important to help instill in your child healthy mental health habits that will last a lifetime, as well as to know when something may be wrong and a conversation is needed. This blog post will help you understand teen mental health a little better and how to connect with your child.

Stressors — And Coping Mechanisms — Are Different Today

Even apart from the global pandemic, civil unrest, and inflation that’s disrupted nearly everyone’s life the past few years, teens today face issues our generation couldn’t have imagined. The pressures of social media and technology can create a toxic storm of self-doubt, FOMO (fear of missing out), sadness, bullying, and more.

Teenage mental health issues can manifest themselves in ways adults may not recognize. Even the way kids talk about depression has changed, with new slang terms, idioms, and metaphors. Instead of staying on the phone with friends venting about school or parents, they may turn to group chats, logging on to a Discord server to voice chat, or even just zoning out watching their favorite Twitch streamer.

Read more here.

TikTok is turning into a major platform for child sexual exploitation in the United States, according to law enforcement officials, with predatory adults increasingly finding it easier to contact and manipulate minors through the Chinese app.

Since the advent of the internet, child predators have had an easy option to get in touch with minors for sexual relationships. However, TikTok is said to be worsening this problem due to its massive popularity among youngsters. Over 50 percent of American minors are estimated to use TikTok at least once every day. “The audience that’s following these children, a lot of them are adult males that have a sexual interest in children,” Jon Rouse, police veteran who heads a group targeting child sex offenders for Interpol, said to The Wall Street Journal.

“Child sex offenders will gravitate toward where there are children. Pedophiles prefer looking at videos,” he added. Billions of videos are uploaded to the app every month, with numerous minors doing all kinds of things, including talking about personal lives.

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Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced a bill on Tuesday to ban children under 16 years old from using social media. The legislation, which is entitled the Making Age-Verification Technology Uniform, Robust, and Effective (MATURE) Act, would require social media companies to not allow a person to make an account unless the platform verifies that the user is at least 16 years old.

Users who want to create accounts would need to provide their full legal name, date of birth and a scan, image or upload of a government-issued identification that verifies their name and birth date.

“Children suffer every day from the effects of social media. At best, Big Tech companies are neglecting our children’s health and monetizing their personal information. At worst, they are complicit in their exploitation and manipulation. It’s time to give parents the weapons they need to strike back,” Hawley said in a release.

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Senators from both parties blasted Big Tech on Tuesday, 02-14,  and called for the passage of federal legislation to regulate tech platforms in the midst of a mental health crisis among young Americans.

Opening a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen Dick Durbin, the panel’s chair, accused tech companies including Facebook and Snapchat of “doing everything they can to keep our kids eyes glued to the screens.”

A guide to parental controls on social media

Tuesday’s hearing, which featured testimony from civil society groups and mental health advocates, did not involve witnesses from the tech industry. But Durbin hinted at a possible future hearing involving Big Tech representatives, saying “don’t worry, they’ll have their chance” as the committee invites them to weigh in on legislative proposals.

Read more here. 

Watch here.

The Warriors YouTube Channel is a great place to start. #ProtectOurChildren #HumanTrafficking #SexualExploitation

SALT LAKE CITY — An effort to prevent kids from using social media without parental approval cleared a House committee last week, despite concerns from both sides of the aisle that the bill is a potential violation of privacy.

HB311 is the second high-profile social media regulation bill winding its way through the Utah Legislature this year. Sponsored by Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, the bill would require social media companies to verify the ages of all their users in Utah, and prohibit minors from creating accounts without parental consent.

“Quite honestly, I think this is maybe one of the most important bills that we will consider this session,” Teuscher told the House Judiciary Committee on Friday. “And I say that because over the last couple of years as I’ve served in this position, one of the number one things I hear from constituents and parents is concerns about social media.”

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A 14-year-old New Jersey high school student took her own life after video was posted online of a group of girls attacking her — a suicide her father believes was fueled by longtime bullying.

Adriana Kuch, who attended Central Regional High School in Berkeley Township, was found dead at home two days after the sickening Feb. 1 assault, police said.

Alarming video showed several students attacking the teen, hitting her with a water bottle, as she walked with her boyfriend in a school hallway, Patch reported.

In the 20-second clip viewed by the local news outlet, a person is heard yelling: “That’s what you get, you stupid a— b—!”

Read more here.