60% of Australian parents, carers concerned over impact of social media on their kids, survey reveals

According to a new report by the Australian mental health service “ReachOut”, almost 60% of parents and carers are worried about how social media affects their teens’ mental health and wellbeing.

In the survey conducted by the mental health service, parents and carers chose social media as a top issue of concern more frequently than any other issue.

According to an official at ReachOut, parents had four key concerns in the area: the amount of time young people were spending on social media, the safety of platforms, the limited parental controls and the type of content that the young people were accessing.

Young people’s interpersonal skills were being further damaged by social media algorithms, which deliberately fed their own opinions back to them and prevented them from encountering views different to their own, according to the official.