Key Takeaways:
- Guardians, content creators, policymakers, and teenagers themselves play vital roles in fostering healthy video consumption.
- Video content can impact teenagers positively or negatively, influencing their well-being.
- The American Psychological Association (APA) released its first-ever guidelines on promoting healthy video consumption for teenagers, who now have unprecedented access to vast amounts of video content.
APA Report Highlights:
The APA report, authored by an expert advisory panel, outlines how videos can benefit teens by fostering self-concept development, teaching new skills, and promoting joy, empathy, and stronger relationships. However, the report warns of the negative impacts of harmful content, such as depictions of violence, substance use, self-harm, and unrealistic social comparisons, which may desensitize or influence teenagers to mimic harmful behaviors.
Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, CEO of the APA, emphasized that creating a safe online environment for teens is a shared responsibility of video platforms, content creators, parents, caregivers, educators, policymakers, and the technology industry.
Positive and Negative Effects of Video Content:
Positive effects of video content include:
- Enhancing teens’ social, cultural, and academic skills.
- Encouraging empathy, joy, and stable self-identity development.
- Introducing diverse cultures and experiences.
Negative effects include:
- Exposure to violence, aggression, and substance use.
- Promoting unhealthy body standards and stereotypes.
- Increasing materialism through advertisements.
- Influencing teens through content created by influencers that may promote harmful habits.
Recommendations for Caregivers:
Given the vast amount of content available, the report recommends:
- Limiting exposure to harmful content and ads.
- Supervising influencer-related content.
- Encouraging ad-free platforms.
- Teaching video literacy skills in schools, such as identifying misinformation and expressing emotions constructively.
- Setting clear expectations for video use at home and promoting essential developmental activities like sleep, exercise, hobbies, and in-person social interaction.
Recommendations for Policymakers and Tech Platforms:
Policymakers should establish regulations to protect teens from harmful content and negative platform features. The report also calls for video platforms to:
- Moderate and label content based on age-appropriateness.
- Provide user-friendly parental controls.
- Limit addictive features like autoplay to reduce excessive screen time.
Gaps in Research:
The authors highlighted the need for more research on video consumption’s impact on teens in underrepresented racial, ethnic, and gender groups, as well as those with disabilities, neurodivergences, or mental health conditions. Future studies are expected to fill these gaps, providing a broader understanding of the topic.
Evans urged regulators, policymakers, and tech companies to take meaningful steps to protect adolescents from harmful content and excessive video consumption, ensuring a healthier and safer digital experience for the next generation.
