Whenever a person’s flaws are exposed there is a tendency to offer the well-known epithet “nobody’s perfect” citing the glaring reality that all of us make mistakes. It’s a small comfort. Yet there is a growing trend among the young toward an unrealistic perfectionism that threatens their mental health and overall well-being. Sean Rossman, writing for USA Today, cited a recent study of some 42,000 college age students that revealed “perceived social expectations” as the dominant cause of this problematic perfectionism. The critical element in the article is that these “perceived social expectations” are generated through prolonged screen time with social media.

I wanted to share a few thoughts about what I believe should be a major concern of every parent. First, there is a definite correlation between the rise of social media, particularly via smart phones, and the rise of depression and suicide among adolescents. Second, as much as a parent may try to limit their child’s viewing time, it needs to be understood that “unfettered access to information may have boosted the number of teens and children hospitalized for suicidal thoughts or actions.” Researchers from two major universities discovered that “nearly half of teens who got five or more hours of screen time each day had experienced thoughts of suicide or prolonged periods of hopelessness or sadness.” Those two things, “unfettered access to information” and “social media” are primarily responsible for these disturbing trends.

Researchers from two major universities discovered that “nearly half of teens who got five or more hours of screen time each day had experienced thoughts of suicide or prolonged periods of hopelessness or sadness.”

I cannot stress how important it is for parents to control both the time and content of children’s exposure to digital media. The term “screenagers” now describes a generation of young people of which 50% describe themselves as being addicted to their mobile devices. The social pressure fostered by social media pits them against each other creating unrealistic expectations and a skewed version of reality. According to Thomas Curran of the University of Bath, one of the leading researches in this study, “Today’s young people are competing with each other in order to meet societal pressures to succeed and they feel that perfectionism is necessary in order to feel safe, socially connected and of worth.”

Think about it, on social media people usually post an exaggerated persona of themselves in particular and life in general causing others to feel inferior or inadequate. And when they “measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.” (2 Corinthians 10:12) Thus, it is vitally important that parents reinforce in the minds of their children that they are created in the image of God and according to his perfect plan. Young people today, more than ever, need to understand that they will never be truly happy until they come to accept the person God made them to be. This is the basis of a healthy self-esteem. A secular worldview lacks any definitive standard and leaves us with a distorted reality in which people can only compare themselves among themselves.

In light of the increasing mental health threat to our children, I would encourage parents to do two things. One, control the time and content of their children’s screen time. It is your responsibility to set and maintain the lines that frame your child’s life. Two, I would also encourage parents to intentionally teach a Christian worldview to their children. They need to understand that they are loved unconditionally by you and by the God who fashioned them in the womb. This is vital to their understanding of both themselves and the world in which they live.