If ever there was a time to talk about the topic of TikTok with our kids and students, now is it.
Yes, it happened. Saturday, the TikTok app went dark in the US, a day after the ban approved by Congress was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Then, by Sunday, it returned. On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order to extend TikTok’s life for 75 days to give ByteDance (its owner) more time to find a US owner (or partner).
Two weeks ago, Jonathan Haidt and I discussed the incredible power of TikTok to garner youth’s attention and some of the problems that have ensued.
The desire for kids to participate in the TikTok craze is immense. To this point, read what one dad of a 12-year-old emailed me last week.
“My two kids are 9 and 12 years old. Literally yesterday, I discovered my older son had created a TikTok account without asking permission (using something which seems to be called a “virtual browser”)...It's probably our biggest tech-parenting controversy to date, with many more to come.”
For years, teens have told me how they have struggled madly to limit their use of the app but often feel “addicted” to it. To hear teens talk about their experiences on TikTok, check out this episode of my podcast that gets into it.
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Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
Learn more about our Screen-Free Sleep campaign at the website!
Our movie made for parents and educators of younger kids
Learn more about showing our movies in your school or community!
Question 1. How much less time on social media do we think happened from Saturday night until Sunday, when TikTok was down?
With 170 US million users, did it have a big impact? Did people immediately go to other platforms?
I heard this from one college student:
“ Deleted the app. I haven’t gone to the others. It feels good to not have a distraction. Using the TikTok break as a break. Hoping to stay off it. Everyone is taking a break. Even when it came back on, I didn’t re-add it. It made me reflect on how much time I was spending on it and consider what I was revealing about my preferences and interests through my click patterns — and to whom.”
Question 2. How does TikTok (and Meta/Instagram, Snap, etc.) make money, and how does that impact our well-being?
Look, here's the thing: The platforms have a GIGANTIC incentive to keep us scrolling on all these apps. Our time translates into more traditional ads they can sell and being presented more influencer marketing.
The other big issue is that selling us things is all about showing what we are missing in life. It is about making us feel deficient.
So while we are enjoying dogs rescuing kittens and dancers blowing our minds, our feeds are infused with continuous messages of “your life would be better if, …..” We are constantly being influenced by how we feel, think, and behave.
Question 3. Let’s pretend TikTok experienced a true death in the US. Would the time spent scrolling on it be shifted to platforms such as Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Snapchat’s Spotlight? Would there be a net zero in social media use or a decrease?
Question 4. What would happen to all the creators whose work is featured on TikTok? Devastating, for sure. What is a guess about how many have their work spread across many platforms?
1. There was very strong bipartisan support for the law that was passed, which said that TikTok had to either be shut down or sold to a US company. What are the reasons for such high support?
The two biggest being China collecting our data and influencing/ compromising our national security. (TikTok has refused to sell and instead challenged the ruling up to the level of the U.S. Supreme Court, which said the law was constitutional.)
There are many examples of collecting data. One example is a 13-year-old who posts, and then years later, she runs for president, and the country does not want her to be a leader, so resurfaces past posts.
Examples of national security can influence Americans' views around the China-Taiwan conflict. A possible war in the future indeed affects our national security. This is very complicated, and I am not going to go into this here.
2. We have social media platforms based in the U.S. that are not politically neutral. How do we feel about other countries social media companies having this sway compared to U.S. social media companies having this sway?
Learn more about showing our movies in your school or community!
Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
Learn more about our Screen-Free Sleep campaign at the website!
Our movie made for parents and educators of younger kids
Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
Last week we released the updated version of our original movie, Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age which is now updated with the latest science, research and expert insight, making it more relevant than ever.
You can watch the trailer below, learn more about the movie here and if you are interested in hosting a screening of this movie in your school or community, please make an inquiry and learn more about the process here.
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel! We add new videos regularly and you'll find over 100 videos covering parenting advice, guidance, podcasts, movie clips and more. Here's our most recent:
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Please click here to share your thoughts with us in our community survey. It only takes 5–10 minutes, and everyone who completes it will be entered to win one of five $50 Amazon vouchers.
If ever there was a time to talk about the topic of TikTok with our kids and students, now is it.
Yes, it happened. Saturday, the TikTok app went dark in the US, a day after the ban approved by Congress was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Then, by Sunday, it returned. On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order to extend TikTok’s life for 75 days to give ByteDance (its owner) more time to find a US owner (or partner).
Two weeks ago, Jonathan Haidt and I discussed the incredible power of TikTok to garner youth’s attention and some of the problems that have ensued.
The desire for kids to participate in the TikTok craze is immense. To this point, read what one dad of a 12-year-old emailed me last week.
“My two kids are 9 and 12 years old. Literally yesterday, I discovered my older son had created a TikTok account without asking permission (using something which seems to be called a “virtual browser”)...It's probably our biggest tech-parenting controversy to date, with many more to come.”
For years, teens have told me how they have struggled madly to limit their use of the app but often feel “addicted” to it. To hear teens talk about their experiences on TikTok, check out this episode of my podcast that gets into it.
Question 1. How much less time on social media do we think happened from Saturday night until Sunday, when TikTok was down?
With 170 US million users, did it have a big impact? Did people immediately go to other platforms?
I heard this from one college student:
“ Deleted the app. I haven’t gone to the others. It feels good to not have a distraction. Using the TikTok break as a break. Hoping to stay off it. Everyone is taking a break. Even when it came back on, I didn’t re-add it. It made me reflect on how much time I was spending on it and consider what I was revealing about my preferences and interests through my click patterns — and to whom.”
Question 2. How does TikTok (and Meta/Instagram, Snap, etc.) make money, and how does that impact our well-being?
Look, here's the thing: The platforms have a GIGANTIC incentive to keep us scrolling on all these apps. Our time translates into more traditional ads they can sell and being presented more influencer marketing.
The other big issue is that selling us things is all about showing what we are missing in life. It is about making us feel deficient.
So while we are enjoying dogs rescuing kittens and dancers blowing our minds, our feeds are infused with continuous messages of “your life would be better if, …..” We are constantly being influenced by how we feel, think, and behave.
Question 3. Let’s pretend TikTok experienced a true death in the US. Would the time spent scrolling on it be shifted to platforms such as Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Snapchat’s Spotlight? Would there be a net zero in social media use or a decrease?
Question 4. What would happen to all the creators whose work is featured on TikTok? Devastating, for sure. What is a guess about how many have their work spread across many platforms?
1. There was very strong bipartisan support for the law that was passed, which said that TikTok had to either be shut down or sold to a US company. What are the reasons for such high support?
The two biggest being China collecting our data and influencing/ compromising our national security. (TikTok has refused to sell and instead challenged the ruling up to the level of the U.S. Supreme Court, which said the law was constitutional.)
There are many examples of collecting data. One example is a 13-year-old who posts, and then years later, she runs for president, and the country does not want her to be a leader, so resurfaces past posts.
Examples of national security can influence Americans' views around the China-Taiwan conflict. A possible war in the future indeed affects our national security. This is very complicated, and I am not going to go into this here.
2. We have social media platforms based in the U.S. that are not politically neutral. How do we feel about other countries social media companies having this sway compared to U.S. social media companies having this sway?
Last week we released the updated version of our original movie, Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age which is now updated with the latest science, research and expert insight, making it more relevant than ever.
You can watch the trailer below, learn more about the movie here and if you are interested in hosting a screening of this movie in your school or community, please make an inquiry and learn more about the process here.
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel! We add new videos regularly and you'll find over 100 videos covering parenting advice, guidance, podcasts, movie clips and more. Here's our most recent:
Sign up here to receive the weekly Tech Talk Tuesdays newsletter from Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD.
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If ever there was a time to talk about the topic of TikTok with our kids and students, now is it.
Yes, it happened. Saturday, the TikTok app went dark in the US, a day after the ban approved by Congress was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Then, by Sunday, it returned. On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order to extend TikTok’s life for 75 days to give ByteDance (its owner) more time to find a US owner (or partner).
Two weeks ago, Jonathan Haidt and I discussed the incredible power of TikTok to garner youth’s attention and some of the problems that have ensued.
The desire for kids to participate in the TikTok craze is immense. To this point, read what one dad of a 12-year-old emailed me last week.
“My two kids are 9 and 12 years old. Literally yesterday, I discovered my older son had created a TikTok account without asking permission (using something which seems to be called a “virtual browser”)...It's probably our biggest tech-parenting controversy to date, with many more to come.”
For years, teens have told me how they have struggled madly to limit their use of the app but often feel “addicted” to it. To hear teens talk about their experiences on TikTok, check out this episode of my podcast that gets into it.
It feels like we’re finally hitting a tipping point. The harms from social media in young people’s lives have been building for far too long, and bold solutions can’t wait any longer. That’s why what just happened in Australia is extremely exciting. Their new nationwide move marks one of the biggest attempts yet to protect kids online. And as we released a new podcast episode yesterday featuring a mother who lost her 14-year-old son after a tragic connection made through social media, I couldn’t help but think: this is exactly the kind of real-world action families have been desperate for. In today’s blog, I share five key things to understand about what Australia is doing because it’s big, it’s controversial, and it might just spark global change.
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I hear from so many parents who feel conflicted about their own phone habits when it comes to modeling healthy use for their kids. They’ll say, “I tell my kids to get off their screens, but then I’m on mine all the time.” Today I introduce two moms who are taking on my One Small Change Challenge and share how you can try it too.
READ MORE >
This week’s blog explores how influencers and social media promoting so-called “Healthy” ideals — from food rules to fitness fads — can quietly lead young people toward disordered eating. Featuring insights from Dr. Jennifer Gaudiani, a leading expert on eating disorders, we unpack how to spot harmful messages and start honest conversations with kids about wellness, body image, and what “healthy” really means.
READ MORE >for more like this, DR. DELANEY RUSTON'S NEW BOOK, PARENTING IN THE SCREEN AGE, IS THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR TODAY’S PARENTS. WITH INSIGHTS ON SCREEN TIME FROM RESEARCHERS, INPUT FROM KIDS & TEENS, THIS BOOK IS PACKED WITH SOLUTIONS FOR HOW TO START AND SUSTAIN PRODUCTIVE FAMILY TALKS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND IT’S IMPACT ON OUR MENTAL WELLBEING.
