The Social Media Dilemma: 3 moms share how they approach this hot topic in their homes

In today’s digital age, the question of when and how to introduce children to social media is a hot topic among parents. Celebrity couple Chip and Joanna Gaines have set a hard stance. “Our house rule is you get social media the summer before you go to college. So, we have that time to kind of work through things,” Joanna told Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on Today’s 3rd hour. They aren’t alone. Actress and TV host Drew Barrymore says no to phones. She passionately expressed to her live studio audience, “It is amazing to have wanted so badly for my kids to love me and to love their environment and feel safe, and none of us want our children to resent us, and we don’t want to be their enemy. It is such a hard choice to say, I don’t care if you hate me for this. I don’t care if you’re mad at me for this. I know that I’m doing the right thing by you and I accept your anger.” The research supports the celebrities concerns too. The book, “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt has been at the center of this conversation. The author claims the decline of a play-based childhood and the rise of a phone-based childhood has contributed largely to the significant increase in anxiety and depression among young people. He advises parents to hold off on smartphones until high school and say no to social media until 16. But what is the everyday mom doing with this somewhat new, concrete information? In a recent roundtable discussion with three mothers we admire, friends of the show Kelly Jensen, Emily Bell McCormick, and Shima Baughman shared their experiences and perspectives on social media use and phone privileges in their homes.