Recently, on my podcast with psychologist Jo-Ann Finkelstein, PhD, she made a point that stuck with me: many girls are losing sleep to wake early for makeup and beauty routines. I hadn’t fully considered how this affects their rest and well-being.
Another growing concern is how young girls, some as young as 7 or 8, are becoming fixated on beauty products particularly through viewing beauty routines or GRWM (Get Ready With Me) content from similarly young creators on platforms like TikTok or YouTube.
In Screenagers Elementary School Age Edition, we show clips of elementary-aged girls talking excitedly about their favorite skin and makeup items. This beauty obsession is reaching younger ages, fueled by pervasive beauty ideals on social media.
New research from Northwestern University, led by Dr. Molly Hales, examined 100 TikTok beauty routine videos by creators ages 7 to 18. Findings included:
As a doctor, I treat young people with irritated skin, and as a mom, I’m alarmed. Peer-driven beauty content, amplified by social media, is shaping how kids see themselves. The pressure to achieve a certain look is relentless, unattainable, and a toxic cycle.
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
Learn more about showing our movies in your school or community!
Here are ways to start meaningful, nonjudgmental conversations:
Try to understand what your child is feeling from their perspective.
To get there, ask open-ended questions like:
You might want to share an equivalent experience from your own childhood - for example, seeing beauty tips in a teen magazine.
Watch this short clip from Screenagers: Elementary School Edition together. It features young kids showcasing their skincare and makeup routines and their excitement for brands like Sephora or Evereden. This can be a powerful springboard for a shared conversation.
Reference Dr. Hale’s TikTok study, noting that many products include ingredients that can irritate young (or any) skin. Explain how rashes or reactions may be linked to these products, something that kids might not realize on their own.
Brainstorm together:
Even if your child doesn’t change their habits immediately, this kind of dialogue plants seeds. This is about nurturing critical thinking. When we show curiosity and calmly share our thoughts — without blame — we make little inroads.
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
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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Recently, on my podcast with psychologist Jo-Ann Finkelstein, PhD, she made a point that stuck with me: many girls are losing sleep to wake early for makeup and beauty routines. I hadn’t fully considered how this affects their rest and well-being.
Another growing concern is how young girls, some as young as 7 or 8, are becoming fixated on beauty products particularly through viewing beauty routines or GRWM (Get Ready With Me) content from similarly young creators on platforms like TikTok or YouTube.
In Screenagers Elementary School Age Edition, we show clips of elementary-aged girls talking excitedly about their favorite skin and makeup items. This beauty obsession is reaching younger ages, fueled by pervasive beauty ideals on social media.
New research from Northwestern University, led by Dr. Molly Hales, examined 100 TikTok beauty routine videos by creators ages 7 to 18. Findings included:
As a doctor, I treat young people with irritated skin, and as a mom, I’m alarmed. Peer-driven beauty content, amplified by social media, is shaping how kids see themselves. The pressure to achieve a certain look is relentless, unattainable, and a toxic cycle.
Here are ways to start meaningful, nonjudgmental conversations:
Try to understand what your child is feeling from their perspective.
To get there, ask open-ended questions like:
You might want to share an equivalent experience from your own childhood - for example, seeing beauty tips in a teen magazine.
Watch this short clip from Screenagers: Elementary School Edition together. It features young kids showcasing their skincare and makeup routines and their excitement for brands like Sephora or Evereden. This can be a powerful springboard for a shared conversation.
Reference Dr. Hale’s TikTok study, noting that many products include ingredients that can irritate young (or any) skin. Explain how rashes or reactions may be linked to these products, something that kids might not realize on their own.
Brainstorm together:
Even if your child doesn’t change their habits immediately, this kind of dialogue plants seeds. This is about nurturing critical thinking. When we show curiosity and calmly share our thoughts — without blame — we make little inroads.
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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Recently, on my podcast with psychologist Jo-Ann Finkelstein, PhD, she made a point that stuck with me: many girls are losing sleep to wake early for makeup and beauty routines. I hadn’t fully considered how this affects their rest and well-being.
Another growing concern is how young girls, some as young as 7 or 8, are becoming fixated on beauty products particularly through viewing beauty routines or GRWM (Get Ready With Me) content from similarly young creators on platforms like TikTok or YouTube.
In Screenagers Elementary School Age Edition, we show clips of elementary-aged girls talking excitedly about their favorite skin and makeup items. This beauty obsession is reaching younger ages, fueled by pervasive beauty ideals on social media.
New research from Northwestern University, led by Dr. Molly Hales, examined 100 TikTok beauty routine videos by creators ages 7 to 18. Findings included:
As a doctor, I treat young people with irritated skin, and as a mom, I’m alarmed. Peer-driven beauty content, amplified by social media, is shaping how kids see themselves. The pressure to achieve a certain look is relentless, unattainable, and a toxic cycle.
Jared Cooney Horvath argues that the common defense of classroom technology — “there’s no definitive evidence of harm” — sets an unrealistic standard. Because ed tech evolves rapidly, product-specific causal trials are often impossible and ethically problematic. Instead, he points to converging evidence. In Utah, long-rising achievement scores reversed after digital tools became central in 2014, a pattern echoed in broader national and international data, raising concerns about large-scale tech adoption without clear evidence of benefit.
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Instagram’s new Teen Accounts are being promoted as safer for kids, but recent nationally representative data tells a more complicated story. This post invites families to take a research-based quiz together and have a calm, curiosity-driven conversation about what teens are actually experiencing on the platform — and what that means for trust, safety, and screen time.
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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.
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.
