On a Monday in mid-March, state Attorney General Dave Sunday made his way to Muhlenberg Township.
He visited the Berks County Intermediate Unit, where 44 high school students from across the county were waiting. Sunday spent a few hours chatting with the students, picking their brains on the impact social media is having on their mental health.
The session was the second in a series of Teen Talk roundtable discussions the attorney general held across Pennsylvania involving a total of 160 students from 35 schools. Sunday wanted to hear about the dangers of social media and its potential impact on mental health from the very people it is affecting.
The attorney general’s office released a report highlighting what he learned.
A pervasive topic
In the report, Sunday wrote that social media — as well as the quickly emerging world of artificial intelligence — is something that surrounds today’s students.
“For today’s students, the digital world is not separate from real life — it is where much of life happens,” he wrote. “From social media to emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, these spaces are shaping how young people think, communicate and form relationships.
State Attorney General Dave Sunday has released a report about the impact of social media on teens that followed discussions he held with students, including some at the Berks County Intermediate Unit in March. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
“While these tools offer benefits, they also introduce new and evolving challenges that can affect students’ well-being. Understanding these impacts has become an urgent need for schools and communities.”
The report cites a Pew Research Center study that showed 95% of people between the ages of 13 and 17 report using at least one social media platform, with 46% saying that are online “almost constantly.”
The report also cites a U.S. Surgeon General Advisory report from 2023 that found that adolescents spend an average of more than three hours per day on social media, not including time spent on other digital media.
Artificial intelligence is also a growing presence in the lives of teens, the report says. It said that recent research indicated 46% of youths in the U.S. use AI at least once a week. And 10% reported using AI for help with addressing mental health concerns.
Sunday wrote that, as a father, he has thought a lot about raising kids in that kind of digital environment.
“There’s no question that social media can create pressure — pressure to measure up, to always be ‘on’ and to present a version of life that isn’t always real,” he wrote. “At the same time, too many young people are struggling in silence because mental health is still something we don’t talk about enough. That needs to change.”
The impact
While the report does delve into some positive impacts of social media — including helping teens feel more connected and promoting feelings of belonging — it focuses mainly on the negative impacts.
Chiefly among them are impacts on mental health.
“Although social media does not directly ’cause’ depression or anxiety, research consistently identifies significant associations between social media use and poorer mental health outcomes,” it states.
The Surgeon General Advisory report found that adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media have double the risk of experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety, the report says.
And data from the Gallup Familial and Adolescent Health Survey shows a clear correlation between increased daily screen time and higher rates of self-harm, poor body image and diminished well-being, the report states.
When it comes to AI, the report says studies have shown 37% of teens rely solely on AI for emotional support, forgoing professional services.
“AI chatbots also tend to validate users’ thoughts and perspectives, even when those perspectives may be harmful or inaccurate, which can increase confidence in one’s own views, reduce openness to others and discourage conflict resolution,” the report warns. “This dynamic, combined with the lack of typical ‘social friction’ found in human relationships, may limit opportunities for teens to develop empathy, perspective taking and interpersonal skills.”
What the students said
According to the report, students who participated in the Teen Talk discussions consistently said social media is their primary means of communications with other teens.
They also acknowledged those platforms are addictive but said opting out of them would lead to isolation or loss of social standing.
“Students described how extensive use can distract from academic and personal priorities,” the report states. “They also recognized the stress associated with overuse, including a growing reliance on AI chatbots for advice and, in some cases, companionship.”
The students reported that social media also creates a constant pressure to “measure up.”
“Many described an exhausting awareness of how they compare to their peers — not just in appearance, but in what they own, where they go and how they spend their time,” the report states. “They spoke about scrolling through highly curated snapshots of others’ lives and feeling pressure to present an equally polished version of their own. This included using filters, editing photos and carefully selecting content to project an image that aligns with perceived social expectations.”
Students said that even when they know posts are unrealistic or staged, they still feel pressure to compare their own lives with the online content.
Another concern raised by students, according to the report, is the nature and quality of information found on social media.
“Many noted that posts designed to provoke strong reactions — particularly around social or political issues — tend to gain the most attention, even when the information is misleading or incomplete,” the report states. “They expressed frustration that peers frequently adopt trending narratives without verifying sources or considering multiple perspectives.”
Despite students being aware of the negative side of social media, most said they feel deeply entrenched in them and expressed hesitation at changing their own usage habits, the report said.
Recommendations
The report includes an extensive list of recommendations for social media companies, government, schools, teens and parents.
Some of those recommendations include:
For social media companies
• Strengthening content moderation to better detect and remove harmful, graphic or inappropriate material.
• Improve algorithms to reduce exposure to harmful content and limit “rabbit hole” effects — the algorithmic tendency to recommend increasingly extreme material that makes user disengagement difficult.
• Limit or remove algorithm-driven recommendations for users under 18, prioritizing content from accounts they intentionally follow or choose to engage with.
• Implement stronger age verification systems to ensure platforms are developmentally appropriate.
• Increase parental controls, including approval for app downloads and clearer oversight tools.
• Default accounts for minors to the highest safety and privacy settings.
For government
• Establish and enforce stronger regulations for social media companies, particularly regarding advertising content and targeting youth audiences.
• Require meaningful age verification standards across platforms.
• Hold companies accountable for harmful design features and inadequate protections.
• Fund and expand access to youth mental health resources, including digital interventions.
• Support public awareness campaigns to educate families about online risks, including AI and emerging technologies.
• Require greater transparency from companies regarding how algorithms function and how content is recommended to minors.
For schools
• Introduce digital safety education prior to middle school.
• Provide regular, engaging assemblies or presentations with real-world relevance, potentially having older students speak with younger students.
• Educate students on how to identify credible sources of news and information.
• Increase awareness of available mental health supports.
• Offer a wide variety of extracurricular activities to encourage in-person interaction and prosocial behavior.
• Provide training for educators, staff, and students to recognize and respond to signs of mental health concerns.
For teens
• Prioritize in-person connections and real-world activities over constant online engagement.
• Support one another by checking in, listening and sharing experiences or advice.
• Set personal boundaries around screen time and content consumption.
• Seek help when needed and encourage peers to do the same.
• Challenge each other about information received through social media to cut down on the spread of misinformation and disinformation.
For parents
• Set clear expectations and boundaries around screen time, content, app usage and interactions with new contacts.
• Delay access to smartphones and social media until children are developmentally ready.
• Use parental controls and monitoring tools to stay informed about online activity.
• Maintain open, ongoing communication about online experiences and challenges.
• Model healthy technology habits.
• Encourage involvement in offline activities.
• Encourage use of internet-connected devices in shared family spaces to reduce late-night use and unsupervised interactions.
• Regularly review apps, privacy settings, and platform features together with your child to stay informed about how they are being used.