By: Megan A Moreno, MD, FAAP & Jenny Radesky, MD, FAAP Social media plays an important role in the lives of many tweens and teens. More than one-third (35%) of 13- 17-year-olds reported using social media sites such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat “almost constantly” in 2022. And while many social media...Read More

An egg. A red heart. A smiley face. In one case, even a red devil. No, I’m not emoji flirting with you – these are some of the symbols I’ve seen used, in recent weeks, by parents on social media to hide their children’s faces. What on earth is going on? ‘Posturing parenting’, according to...Read More

Screen time spent gaming or on social media does not cause mental health problems in teenagers, according to a large-scale study. With ministers in the UK considering whether to follow Australia’s example by banning social media use for under-16s, the findings challenge concerns that long periods spent gaming or scrolling TikTok or Instagram are driving...Read More

Listen to this article Estimated 5 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. A New Mexico jury ruled Tuesday that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual...Read More

Nineteen-year-old Carlo Tritta was at work when police arrived to take him into custody for questioning. Eleven months earlier, he had started talking to a 14-year-old girl from Greater Manchester on the online gaming platform Roblox. “He was chatting about games and generally just chat about the game that they were playing,” said Det Supt...Read More

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, Jan. 15, 2026 (HealthDay News) — There appears to be a “Goldilocks zone” when it comes to social media use among teenagers. Too much social media use can negatively affect a teenager’s well-being, a new study finds, dovetailing with results of previous research. But too little social media use also...Read More

In what the New Mexico Department of Justice calls a “landmark verdict”, Meta has lost a case about endangering children and misleading consumers. The trial mainly concerned safety on Facebook and Instagram, with testimony from employees adding damage on top of a state led undercover operation, in which fake accounts posing as minors was set...Read More

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) – Levy County Sheriff’s deputies say a child predator will spend time in prison for failing to register as a sex offender. 53-year-old Creg Brown accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to 8.5 years. Deputies say he did not report to them for his required sex offender registration in August of...Read More

CENTEGIX announced it has acquired Pikmykid, bringing together emergency response technology with daily school operations tools into a unified platform. The acquisition is designed to help K-12 school districts manage both routine student activities and critical incidents within a single system. By combining Pikmykid’s capabilities in dismissal management, reunification, and student flow with CENTEGIX’s emergency...Read More

Congress is debating whether to impose new age restrictions on social media as concerns grow over teenage screen time and its impact on mental health. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, drew attention to the issue during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing focused on how social media affects young users. Major platforms, including...Read More