CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — The United States Surgeon General wishes to add a warning to social media sites similar to the ones found on cigarettes and tobacco products.
Vivek Murthy wrote in an opinion piece for The New York Times that social media was "not safe" and that, "A surgeon general’s warning label, which requires congressional action, would regularly remind parents and adolescents ."
Murthy's plan focuses heavily on younger users who make up a large percentage of the user base for sites like TikTok and Instagram.
“Social media is targeted to get you to stay on there. So I think a lot of people develop shorter attention spans because of it.” That's the sentiment of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi senior Amore Navarro. Navarro notes that she avoids apps like TikTok due to the algorithms being far more "aggressive."
Ashley Silva, another A&M senior, felt similarly, “I think sometimes people, especially in my age range, might compare their lives to social media, and think they have to live a certain way when it’s not always reality.” Silva mentioned that during the semester she will delete social media apps in order to avoid any distractions.
Junior Kara Jackson noted that she has had times where, “I’ll catch myself scrolling on TikTok or snapping my friends back when I should be doing homework," but she went on to say that more is needed than just a warning.
In regards to social media safety Jackson believes, “They should teach it like they do in sex-ed courses, drug courses, just kind of include and teach it inside the classroom."
In a 2019 study by the American Psychological Association, they found that teenagers spend an average of 4.8 hours on social media every day with 60% of the high frequency users report little to no parental monitoring.
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