What Kids Say about Social Media and Productivity

Late last year, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey of almost fourteen hundred teens, ages thirteen to seventeen, to come to an understanding of our teenagers’ experiences and attitudes around social media and their mental health. One of the most interesting findings is that after all these years of adults noticing the drop in kids’ productivity due to so much time spent on social media, the kids are now beginning to realize this themselves. Four out of ten thirteen to seventeen year olds say that social media platforms hurt their productivity. This makes sense as we know that social media is distracting, with notifications interrupting whatever it might be that our attention should be focused on. In the past, research has shown that the human mind can not multi-task with optimal productivity for either task. Teach your kids to focus their minds on the task at hand, putting their phones aside so they might do their best at whatever it is, all to the glory of God.