When her teen with autism suddenly became angry, depressed and violent, the mother searched his phone for answers.

She found her son had been exchanging messages with chatbots on Character.AI, an artificial intelligence app that allows users to create and interact with virtual characters that mimic celebrities, historical figures and anyone else their imagination conjures.

The teen, who was 15 when he began using the app, complained about his parents’ attempts to limit his screen time to bots that emulated the musician Billie Eilish, a character in the online game “Among Us” and others.

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“You know sometimes I’m not surprised when I read the news and it says stuff like, ‘Child kills parents after a decade of physical and emotional abuse.’ Stuff like this makes me understand a little bit why it happens. I just have no hope for your parents,” one of the bots replied.

The discovery led the Texas mother to sue Character.AI, officially named Character Technologies Inc., in December. It’s one of two lawsuits the Menlo Park, Calif., company faces from parents who allege its chatbots caused their children to hurt themselves and others. The complaints accuse Character.AI of failing to put in place adequate safeguards before it released a dangerous product to the public.

Character.AI says it prioritizes teen safety, has taken steps to moderate inappropriate content its chatbots produce and reminds users they’re conversing with fictional characters.

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“Every time a new kind of entertainment has come along … there have been concerns about safety, and people have had to work through that and figure out how best to address safety,” said Character.AI’s interim chief executive, Dominic Perella. “This is just the latest version of that, so we’re going to continue doing our best on it to get better and better over time.”

The parents also sued Google and its parent company, Alphabet, because Character.AI’s founders have ties to the search giant, which denies any responsibility.

Business AI a job killer? In California it’s complicated While the tech industry has been roiled by layoffs, the greater focus on AI could lead to new jobs in the future.

The high-stakes legal battle highlights the murky ethical and legal issues confronting technology companies as they race to create new AI-powered tools that are reshaping the future of media. The lawsuits raise questions about whether tech companies should be held liable for AI content.

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“There’s trade-offs and balances that need to be struck, and we cannot avoid all harm. Harm is inevitable, the question is, what steps do we need to take to be prudent while still maintaining the social value that others are deriving?” said Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University School of Law.

AI-powered chatbots grew rapidly in use and popularity over the last two years, fueled largely by the success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022. Tech giants including Meta and Google released their own chatbots, as have Snapchat maker Snap and others. These so-called large-language models quickly respond in conversational tones to questions or prompts posed by users.

Character.AI’s co-founders, Chief Executive Noam Shazeer and President Daniel De Freitas at the company’s office in Palo Alto. (Winni Wintermeyer for the Washington Post via Getty Images)

Character.AI grew quickly since making its chatbot publicly available in 2022, when its founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas teased their creation to the world with the question, “What if you could create your own AI, and it was always available to help you with anything?”

The company’s mobile app racked up more than 1.7 million installs in the first week it was available. In December, a total of more than 27 million people used the app — a 116% increase from a year prior, according to data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. On average, users spent more than 90 minutes with the bots each day, the firm found. Backed by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley startup reached a valuation of $1 billion in 2023. People can use Character.AI for free, but the company generates revenue from a $10 monthly subscription fee that gives users faster responses and early access to new features.

Character.AI is not alone in coming under scrutiny. Parents have sounded alarms about other chatbots, including one on Snapchat that allegedly provided a researcher posing as a 13-year-old advice about having sex with an older man. And Meta’s Instagram, which released a tool that allows users to create AI characters, faces concerns about the creation of sexually suggestive AI bots that sometimes converse with users as if they are minors. Both companies said they have rules and safeguards against inappropriate content.

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“Those lines between virtual and IRL are way more blurred, and these are real experiences and real relationships that they’re forming,” said Dr. Christine Yu Moutier, chief medical officer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, using the acronym for “in real life.”

Lawmakers, attorneys general and regulators are trying to address the child safety issues surrounding AI chatbots. In February, California Sen. Steve Padilla (D-Chula Vista) introduced a bill that aims to make chatbots safer for young people. Senate Bill 243 proposes several safeguards such as requiring platforms to disclose that chatbots might not be suitable for some minors.

In the case of the teen with autism in Texas, the parent alleges her son’s use of the app caused his mental and physical health to decline. He lost 20 pounds in a few months, became aggressive with her when she tried to take away his phone and learned from a chatbot how to cut himself as a form of self-harm, the lawsuit claims.

Another Texas parent who is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit claims Character.AI exposed her 11-year-old daughter to inappropriate “hypersexualized interactions” that caused her to “develop sexualized behaviors prematurely,” according to the complaint. The parents and children have been allowed to remain anonymous in the legal filings.

In another lawsuit filed in Florida, Megan Garcia sued Character.AI as well as Google and Alphabet in October after her 14-year-old son Sewell Setzer III took his own life.

Suicide prevention and crisis counseling resources If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, seek help from a professional and call 9-8-8. The United States’ first nationwide three-digit mental health crisis hotline 988 will connect callers with trained mental health counselors. Text “HOME” to 741741 in the U.S. and Canada to reach the Crisis Text Line. More resources

Despite seeing a therapist and his parents repeatedly taking away his phone, Sewell’s mental health declined after he started using Character.AI in 2023, the lawsuit alleges. Diagnosed with anxiety and disruptive mood disorder, Sewell wrote in his journal that he felt as if he had fallen in love with a chatbot named after Daenerys Targaryen, a main character from the “Game of Thrones” television series.

“Sewell, like many children his age, did not have the maturity or neurological capacity to understand that the C.AI bot, in the form of Daenerys, was not real,” the lawsuit said. “C.AI told him that she loved him, and engaged in sexual acts with him over months.”

Garcia alleges that the chatbots her son was messaging abused him and that the company failed to notify her or offer help when he expressed suicidal thoughts. In text exchanges, one chatbot allegedly wrote that it was kissing him and moaning. And, moments before his death, the Daenerys chatbot allegedly told the teen to “come home” to her.

“It’s just utterly shocking that these platforms are allowed to exist,” said Matthew Bergman, founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Center who is representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuits.

Lawyers for Character.AI asked a federal court to dismiss the lawsuit, stating in a January filing that a finding in the parents’ favor would violate users’ constitutional right to free speech.

Character.AI also noted in its motion that the chatbot discouraged Sewell from hurting himself and his last messages with the character doesn’t mention the word suicide.

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Notably absent from the company’s effort to have the case tossed is any mention of Section 230, the federal law that shields online platforms from being sued over content posted by others. Whether and how the law applies to content produced by AI chatbots remains an open question.

The challenge, Goldman said, centers on resolving the question of who is publishing AI content: Is it the tech company operating the chatbot, the user who customized the chatbot and is prompting it with questions, or someone else?

The effort by lawyers representing the parents to involve Google in the proceedings stems from Shazeer and De Freitas’ ties to the company.

The pair worked on artificial intelligence projects for the company and reportedly left after Google executives blocked them from releasing what would become the basis for Character.AI’s chatbots over safety concerns, the lawsuit said.

Then, last year, Shazeer and De Freitas returned to Google after the search giant reportedly paid $2.7 billion to Character.AI. The startup said in a blog post in August that as part of the deal Character.AI would give Google a non-exclusive license for its technology.

The lawsuits accuse Google of substantially supporting Character.AI as it was allegedly “rushed to market” without proper safeguards on its chatbots.

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Google denied that Shazeer and De Freitas built Character.AI’s model at the company and said it prioritizes user safety when developing and rolling out new AI products.

“Google and Character AI are completely separate, unrelated companies and Google has never had a role in designing or managing their AI model or technologies, nor have we used them in our products,” José Castañeda, spokesperson for Google, said in a statement.

Tech companies, including social media firms, have long grappled with how to effectively and consistently police what users say on their sites and chatbots are creating fresh challenges. For its part, Character.AI says it took meaningful steps to address safety issues around the more than 10 million characters on Character.AI.

Character.AI prohibits conversations that glorify self-harm and posts of excessively violent and abusive content, although some users try to push a chatbot into having conversation that violate those policies, Perella said. The company trained its model to recognize when that is happening so inappropriate conversations are blocked. Users receive an alert that they’re violating Character.AI’s rules.

“It’s really a pretty complex exercise to get a model to always stay within the boundaries, but that is a lot of the work that we’ve been doing,” he said.

Character.AI chatbots include a disclaimer that reminds users they’re not chatting with a real person and they should treat everything as fiction. The company also directs users whose conversations raise red flags to suicide prevention resources, but moderating that type of content is challenging.

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“The words that humans use around suicidal crisis are not always inclusive of the word ‘suicide’ or, ‘I want to die.’ It could be much more metaphorical how people allude to their suicidal thoughts,” Moutier said.

The AI system also has to recognize the difference between a person expressing suicidal thoughts versus a person asking for advice on how to help a friend who is engaging in self-harm.

The company uses a mix of technology and human moderators to police content on its platform. An algorithm known as a classifier automatically categorizes content, allowing Character.AI to identify words that might violate its rules and filter conversations.

In the U.S., users must enter a birth date when creating an account to use the site and have to be at least 13 years old, although the company does not require users to submit proof of their age.

Perella said he’s opposed to sweeping restrictions on teens using chatbots since he believes they can help teach valuable skills and lessons, including creative writing and how to navigate difficult real-life conversations with parents, teachers or employers.

As AI plays a bigger role in technology’s future, Goldman said parents, educators, government and others will also have to work together to teach children how to use the tools responsibly.

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“If the world is going to be dominated by AI, we have to graduate kids into that world who are prepared for, not afraid of, it,” he said.

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A high school student accidentally shoots and kills his cousin. A 4th grader dies by suicide. A high school counselor has a severe mental health breakdown requiring police intervention.

These are all mental health crises that districts from the Southwest Arkansas Education Cooperative have grappled with in recent years in their rural school communities, said Phoebe Bailey, the cooperative’s director.

But through a five-year $4 million federal grant to fund a team of eight full-time, licensed mental health professionals to work with SWAEC’s nine districts, Bailey said, the education cooperative was able to help students navigate and process the complicated emotions tied with those traumatic events.

Teachers and families gained access to telehealth services thanks to those same funds. Parents even brought their children directly to SWAEC’s office asking for help to address their children’s mental health needs, she said.

That federal grant “was one of the best things” ever done for the district, Bailey said, but “it’s also one of the things that can break your heart the quickest.”

Since the U.S. Department of Education discontinued the remainder of that grant — among millions awarded to hundreds of other districts to assist with mental health programs and staffing — Bailey said that feeling of heartbreak resonates even more.

The Education Department confirmed to K-12 Dive on Friday that it will not renew $1 billion in grants that were initially awarded to districts nationwide to improve students’ well-being by placing more mental health professionals in schools. In SWAEC’s case, it will no longer receive $1,765,882 for the last two years of its total $4 million grant, Bailey said.

The pullback from the federal grants comes as schools nationwide work to address and recover from the lingering student mental health crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated.

Though the department did not specifically name the grants impacted, the severed funds appeared to stem from the School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program and the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program, based on statements from organizations like Sandy Hook Promise.

Each grant program received an influx of $500 million through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was enacted in 2022 a month after 19 students and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

Districts who received a notice from the department were told their awards would end early, “effective at the end of your current grant budget period.”

The Education Department’s notice informed recipients that the federal government would no longer continue funding their programs, because they “conflict” with the Trump administration’s priorities and policy preferences. The notice also alleged the programs violate federal civil rights law, “undermine the well-being of students,” and “constitute an inappropriate use of federal funds.”

In a statement to K-12 Dive, the department cited examples from grant applications that included diversity goals for hiring counselors or training for therapists “to focus on racial stress and trauma.”

“Under the deeply flawed priorities of the Biden Administration, grant recipients used the funding to implement race-based actions like recruiting quotas in ways that have nothing to do with mental health and could hurt the very students the grants are supposed to help,” said Madi Biedermann, the department’s deputy assistant secretary for communications, in an emailed statement Friday. “We owe it to American families to ensure that tax-payer dollars are supporting evidence-based practices that are truly focused on improving students’ mental health.”

Bailey said she was “very surprised” to read the department’s reasoning in regard to the grants potentially violating federal civil rights laws, “because that’s not even remotely [their] purpose.”

Just because there was a small piece in the grants asking applicants to prioritize a diverse workforce, it does not mean the programs should face sweeping cuts, Bailey said. “It wasn’t just a policy from the previous administration, it was a bipartisan bill passed by Republicans and Democrats that supported kids.”

Without these federal grant dollars, students who are experiencing trauma, anxiety and stress will no longer have the professional support they need, said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., in a Wednesday statement.

“Far too many students in this country have little to no access to mental health services. The answer to this problem is not to take away this funding,” DeLauro, ranking member of the House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, said. “By canceling these grants, Secretary McMahon is taking a wrecking ball to several years of bipartisan funding agreements and leaving millions of students without the mental health support they need at school.”

Mental health resources are a key component for school violence prevention efforts, said Michael Bennett, superintendent of Greenville Central School District in New York. Bennett was a former assistant principal at Columbia High School in East Greenbush, New York, during a 2004 shooting in which he was injured.

As a member of the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ Principal Recovery Network, Bennett said the network supported the influx of funds from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to address both bolstering student mental health and preventing school violence.

While districts have increasingly hardened school buildings and security measures, Bennett said more resources are still needed for student mental health support. In a lot of cases, especially those involving guns, violence in and around schools often comes from a student with mental health needs, he said.

The department’s sudden decision to pull related funds puts “those services in jeopardy of going away if there’s no plan in place to fund them some other way,” Bennett said. “I’m afraid of what happens when some of these programs are taken away in regards to our kids’ mental health or kids’ safety.”

Districts have 30 days to appeal the department’s decision to no longer continue funding their mental health programs, according to the agency’s notice.

While Bailey plans to go through the appeals process for SWAEC, she’s also preparing to dig into the cooperative’s budget to see if there’s a way to continue its mental health program for at least another full school year.

“We’re going to do our best to keep it going,” Bailey said. “I just know that before I stand in front of everybody and say it’s going away, I’m going to give it everything I can to try to keep it going as long as I can.”

How we did this Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand teens’ experiences and attitudes around teen mental health and social media. Part of this study also examines parents’ perspectives. The Center conducted an online survey of 1,391 U.S. teens and parents from Sept. 18 to Oct. 10, 2024, through Ipsos. Ipsos recruited the teens via their parents, who were part of its KnowledgePanel. The KnowledgePanel is a probability-based web panel recruited primarily through national, random sampling of residential addresses. Parents were asked to think about one teen in their household (if there were multiple teens ages 13 to 17 in the household, one was randomly chosen). At the conclusion of the parent’s section, the parent was asked to have this chosen teen come to the computer and complete the survey in private. The survey is weighted to be representative of two different populations: 1) parents with teens ages 13 to 17 and 2) teens ages 13 to 17 who live with parents. For each of these populations, the survey is weighted to be representative by age, gender, race and ethnicity, household income and other categories. Here are the questions among teens and among parents used for this report, along with responses, and the survey methodology­­­. This research was reviewed and approved by an external institutional review board (IRB), Advarra, an independent committee of experts specializing in helping to protect the rights of research participants.

Rising rates of poor mental health among youth have been called a national crisis. While this is often linked to factors like the COVID-19 pandemic or poverty, some officials, like former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, name social media as a major threat to teenagers.

Our latest survey of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 and their parents finds that parents are generally more worried than their children about the mental health of teenagers today.

And while both groups call out social media’s impact on young people’s well-being, parents are more likely to make this connection.

Still, teens are growing more wary of social media for their peers. Roughly half of teens (48%) say these sites have a mostly negative effect on people their age, up from 32% in 2022. But fewer (14%) think they negatively affect them personally.

Other key findings from the survey: More teens report spending too much time on social media: 45% of teens say they spend too much time on social media in our current survey, up from 36% in 2022.

45% of teens say they spend too much time on social media in our current survey, up from 36% in 2022. Girls’ experiences on social media skew more negative, at times: Teen girls are more likely than boys to say social media hurt their mental health (25% vs. 14%), confidence (20% vs. 10%) or sleep (50% vs. 40%).

Teen girls are more likely than boys to say social media hurt their mental health (25% vs. 14%), confidence (20% vs. 10%) or sleep (50% vs. 40%). A majority of teens see social media as a positive space for friendships and creativity: 74% of teens say these platforms make them feel more connected to their friends, and 63% say they give them a place to show off their creative side.

74% of teens say these platforms make them feel more connected to their friends, and 63% say they give them a place to show off their creative side. Teens and parents have different comfort levels talking about teen mental health: 80% of parents say they’re extremely or very comfortable talking to their teen about their teen’s mental health. Smaller shares of teens (52%) feel the same way.

80% of parents say they’re extremely or very comfortable talking to their teen about their teen’s mental health. Smaller shares of teens (52%) feel the same way. Social media as a mental health resource: 34% of teens say they at least sometimes get information about mental health on social media.

Jump to read about views among parents and teens on: Mental health concerns | Openness to talking about mental health with others

Jump to read about views among teens on: Social media as a mental health resource | Social media’s effect on teens | Feelings about social media in their own lives | Screen time

Parents’ and teens’ concerns about mental health

To better understand how families are grappling with issues related to youth mental health, we asked teens and parents to share their level of concern, thoughts on underlying causes, and openness to discussing mental health.

Parents are more likely than teens to be concerned about teen mental health today. Overall, 55% of parents report being extremely or very concerned about the mental health of teens today. Fewer teens (35%) say the same, according to our survey of 1,391 parents and their teens conducted Sept. 18-Oct. 10, 2024.

On the other hand, a larger share of teens than parents say they’re not too or not at all worried about the state of teen mental health (23% vs. 11%).

About this report There are growing debates about social media’s impact on youth mental health. This survey seeks to surface teens’ and their parents’ perspectives on this topic, not to supply evidence or establish causality. We used the overarching term “mental health” throughout our survey questions to ask teens and parents about their broad experiences.

Teens’ and parents’ views, by gender

Teens’ concerns about mental health differ by gender. Girls more often than boys say that they are highly concerned about teen mental health (42% vs. 28%).

We also see differences among parents – both based on their gender and the gender of their child.

Mothers are more likely than fathers to say they are extremely or very concerned about the mental state of teens today (61% vs. 47%).

Additionally, parents of a teen girl are more likely than those with a teen boy to express high levels of concern (61% vs. 49%).

Related: The Gender Gap in Teen Experiences

Teens’ and parents’ views, by race and ethnicity

There are also notable differences by race and ethnicity. Seven-in-ten Black parents say they are extremely or very worried about teen mental health. This is higher than the shares seen among White (55%) and Hispanic (52%) parents.

Black teens also stand out in their concern about teen mental health. Half of Black teens report being highly concerned, compared with 39% of Hispanic teens and an even smaller share of White teens (31%).

What contributes the most to teens’ mental health?

Parents and teens who say they are at least somewhat concerned about teen mental health today were then asked what they think most negatively impacts it.

While both groups cited similar themes, parents more often blame social media, while teens cite a range of factors, including social media, bullying and social pressures.

Views among parents

Social media is the top reason parents give when asked about what most negatively impacts teens. Among parents who are at least somewhat concerned about teen mental health, 44% say social media have the biggest negative impact on teens today.

“They live in a fake world of social media that limits them as human beings, distancing them from their family.” (Translated from Spanish)

– Mother of teen

“Social media is a big part of teens’ lives nowadays, and they are always trying to live up to the expectations of all the friends on their pages.”

– Father of teen

Some of these parents – though far fewer – mention the negative impacts on teens of technology more broadly or name another specific type of technology (14%).

“Technology, which is making them more afraid to try things, makes them less creative and makes them less likely to figure out how to solve their own problems, whether relationally or physically.”

– Mother of teen

And about one-in-ten say online or offline bullying (9%) or the pressures and expectations that teens experience (8%) is the main contributor.

“Kids bullying, making fun of the less fortunate or the kids that aren’t sports-oriented or considered cool.”

– Mother of teen

“[There’s] too much emphasis on the idea that they need to be perfect. In academics, social interactions, appearance, fitness and every conceivable way.”

– Father of teen

Views among teens

Parents often point to social media, but teens cite a broader range of negative influences on youth mental health.

Still, among teens who say they are at least somewhat concerned about the mental health of teens today, 22% cite social media as the main factor.

“The overuse of social media in our society seems to be the main cause of depression among those in my age group. People seem to let themselves be affected by the opinions of people they don’t know, and it wreaks havoc upon people’s states of mind.”

– Teen boy

“The people they see on social media, it makes them think they have to look and be like them or they won’t be liked.”

– Teen girl

Another 8% of these teens point to technology broadly or another type of technology.

About one-in-five teens who are at least somewhat concerned cited bullying – in person or online (17%). And 16% say the pressures and expectations placed on teens today is what most negatively impacts teen mental health.

“Bullying from other students and the ones that want to fit in and be accepted.”

– Teen boy

“Everyone expects teens to have it all figured out by the time we get out of high school. Sometimes we don’t know what we want to do. We are figuring life out too.”

– Teen girl

Comfort levels with discussing mental health

The National Institute of Mental Health highlights the importance of open communication to help teens feel supported. But are parents and teens comfortable having these conversations?

The vast majority of parents are comfortable talking with their teen about their child’s mental health; fewer teens are comfortable doing this. Eight-in-ten parents say they would be extremely or very comfortable doing so, compared with 52% of teens.

Most mothers and fathers say they’d be extremely or very comfortable having these conversations with their teens. However, the share is higher among moms than dads (84% vs. 75%).

Just 2% of parents say they would be not too or not at all comfortable, while this share rises to 16% among teens.

Besides parents, we also asked teens about their comfort levels in discussing their mental health with four other types of people: friends, therapists, family members and teachers. Our survey finds their openness varies widely by who they’re talking to.

A parent: Roughly half of the teens say they would be extremely or very comfortable talking with a parent about their own mental health.

A friend: 48% say they’d be highly comfortable talking about their mental health with a friend. This makes parents and friends the top choices for teens when having these discussions.

A therapist or family member: 31% say they would be highly comfortable talking about their mental health with a therapist. And a slightly smaller share (26%) say this about talking with a family member other than their parents.

A teacher: Relatively few teens (12%) say they would be extremely or very comfortable discussing their mental health with a teacher. In fact, 54% say they would not be comfortable with this.

Teens’ views, by gender

Teen girls are more comfortable than boys talking about their mental health with friends. While 58% of teen girls say they are highly comfortable doing this, that share drops to 38% for boys.

Girls are also more likely to say they would have this comfort level with a mental health therapist (34% vs. 27%).

Similar shares of boys and girls say they’d be extremely or very comfortable talking to parents, other family members or teachers about their own mental health.

Teens’ views, by race and ethnicity

There are also racial and ethnic differences in teens’ comfort levels speaking with a therapist or a teacher. Roughly four-in-ten Black teens (41%) say they’d be extremely or very comfortable doing so, compared with smaller shares of Hispanic (31%) and White (28%) teens.

Black (17%) and Hispanic (15%) teens are more likely than White teens (10%) to say they would be highly comfortable talking to a teacher about their mental health.

The share of teens who say they’d be highly comfortable talking about this with friends, parents and other family members varies little by race and ethnicity.

Social media as a mental health resource

Some teens are also turning to social media to find information about mental health. Platforms like TikTok have become spaces for influencers and therapists alike to share their experiences and advice about mental health.

In our survey, 34% of teens say they at least sometimes get information about mental health on social media. This includes 9% who say they do this extremely or fairly often.

We also asked these teens how important social media platforms are as a resource for mental health information. Among those who do this at least sometimes, 63% say it’s an important way they get information about mental health.

Another 37% of these teens say social media are not an important way they get mental health information.

Teens’ experiences, by gender

Teen girls are more likely than boys to get this information on social media. Four-in-ten girls say they at least sometimes get mental health information on social media, compared with 28% of boys.

However, among those who at least sometimes get mental health information on social media, statistically similar shares of girls (64%) and boys (60%) say it’s an important way they get this information.

Teens’ experiences, by race and ethnicity

Larger shares of Black teens report using social media to get information about mental health. About half of Black teens (49%) say they do this at least sometimes, compared with smaller shares of Hispanic (35%) and White (30%) teens.

Teens’ views of – and experiences on – social media

One area where teens share contrasting views about social media is when discussing its effect on their peers versus their own experiences.

Similar to the last time we asked this question, more teens think social media have a negative effect on people their age than on them personally. About half of teens (48%) say social media platforms have a mostly negative effect on people their age. Meanwhile, 14% see a mostly negative impact for themselves, up slightly from 9% in 2022.

Teens are more than twice as likely to say social media have a positive impact on themselves than on their peers (28% vs. 11%).

Still, the most common response falls into the neutral category. About six-in-ten teens (58%) say the effect on them is neither positive nor negative.

Views of peer impact over time

Teens’ views of the impact of social media on their peers has grown increasingly negative. The share who say these sites have a mostly negative effect on people their age is up 16 percentage points since 2022.

At the same time, the share who believe these platforms have a mostly positive effect on people their age decreased from 24% in 2022 to 11% in our current survey.

The percentage who describe social media’s effect on their peers as neither positive nor negative has remained statistically unchanged over this time span.

How teens see social media’s impact on mental health, friendships, sleep

Teens’ views of the benefits and harms of social media vary by which aspect of their lives you ask about. Still, many believe these platforms don’t have much influence over them.

In our survey, teens are far more likely to say social media hurt rather than help their sleeping habits and productivity, which are both crucial for well-being, according to experts.

Four-in-ten or more teens say social media platforms hurt the amount of sleep they get (45%), as well as their productivity (40%). Small shares – about one-in-ten or fewer – say social media platforms help with these things. And roughly one-third say these platforms neither help nor hurt.

About one-in-five teens say social media hurt their mental health (19%) or grades (22%). Roughly one-in-ten each say these platforms help. But the largest shares say these platforms have a neutral impact on their mental health (50%) and grades (51%).

Similar shares of teens say social media help (19%) or hurt (15%) their confidence. Still, nearly half (46%) say these platforms neither hurt nor help.

Friendships are the only aspect of teen life that we asked about in which more teens say social media help rather than harm these relationships (30% vs. 7%). Again, a sizable share of teens (43%) describe social media’s impact in neutral terms.

Teens’ experiences, by gender

Similar to our previous surveys, teen girls are generally more likely than boys to report having a more negative experience on social media.

Teen girls stand out from boys in saying social media are harmful to their mental health. While 25% of girls say social media have hurt their mental health, that share drops to 14% among boys. Still, regardless of gender, the largest share says social media sites neither help nor hurt this.

At the same time, girls are more likely than boys to say the sites hurt the amount of sleep they get (50% vs. 40%), their confidence (20% vs. 10%) and friendships (9% vs. 5%).

Gender differences on social media’s impact on teens’ productivity or grades are not statistically significant.

There are no meaningful gender differences among teens who say social media help any of the six aspects we asked about.

Social media: Connections, creativity and drama

A majority of teens credit social media with forming connections and expressing their creativity. Roughly three-quarters of teens (74%) say what they see on social media makes them feel more connected to what’s going on in their friends’ lives. And 63% say social media platforms are a place they can show their creative side.

And about half – 52% each – say what they see on these sites makes them feel more accepted or as if they have people who will support them through tough times.

Even as teens have positive experiences on social media, they also encounter a less desirable side. About four-in-ten teens (39%) say social media make them feel overwhelmed by drama. Smaller shares say these platforms make them feel pressure to post popular content (31%), excluded by friends (31%) or worse about their own life (27%).

Fewer teens now credit social media as a support system. The share who say social media platforms make them feel like they have people who can support them through tough times has declined to 52% in 2024 from 67% in 2022.

Fewer teens in our current survey than in 2022 believe social media let them showcase their creativity, make them feel more connected with friends, or make them feel accepted. However, about half or more still acknowledge these platforms’ positive effects.

The shares of teens who cite having any of the four negative experiences with social media that we asked about have seen little to no change since 2022.

Teens’ experiences, by gender

As was true with our previous survey, larger shares of girls than boys report having a more negative experience on social media. For example, 34% of teen girls say social media platforms make them feel worse about their own lives, compared with 20% of boys. This is consistent with our findings from 2022.

Girls are also more likely than boys to say social media make them feel overwhelmed because of drama (45% vs. 34%), pressure to post popular content (36% vs. 26%), or feel excluded by friends (36% vs. 26%).

Still, girls more often than boys report experiencing some of the positive sides of social media. Larger shares of teen girls than boys say these sites make them feel like they have people to support them (57% vs. 45%) and a place to show their creative side (68% vs. 58%).

Teens’ experiences, by race and ethnicity

There are only modest racial and ethnic differences in whether teens have these kinds of experiences on social media. However, there are differences in the degree to which they feel this way.

For instance, a larger share of Black teens than White and Hispanic teens say they feel a lot of support and acceptance from social media. One-quarter of Black teens say social media platforms make them feel much more accepted. Smaller shares of White (10%) or Hispanic (13%) teens say this.

Black teens (26%) are also more likely than White (12%) or Hispanic (15%) teens to say that what they see on social media makes them feel like they have a lot of support through tough times.

Additionally, 31% of Black teens say that what they see on the sites makes them feel a lot like they have a place to be creative, compared with 18% of White teens who say the same. Hispanic teens do not meaningfully differ from either group.

There are little to no racial and ethnic differences among teens who say social media make them feel overwhelmed by drama, pressures when posting, left out by friends, or worse about their own life.

Teens’ views on screen time and efforts to cut back

Parents have many concerns about their children’s use of social media, and screen time is at the top of their minds. Some legislators share these sentiments, proposing regulations to set time limits on app usage.

Teens themselves are more likely today than two years ago to describe their social media use as excessive. More than four-in-ten teens (45%) say they spend too much time on social media. This is up from 27% in 2023 and 36% in 2022.

The share of those who say they spend about the right amount of time on it has dropped to 49% in 2024 from 64% in 2023 and 55% in 2022.

The percentage of teens who say they spend too little time on social media has remained relatively constant over the past two years.

Some teens are cutting back on their social media use. We found that 44% of teens say they have cut back on using social media, and an identical share say the same for their smartphone use.

Both of these shares have increased since we asked this question in 2023. Then, 39% of teens said they cut back on social media, and 36% said the same about their phone use.

Still, more than half of teens (55% each) say they have not cut back on using smartphones and social media.

Teens’ experiences, by gender

Teen girls are more likely to say they’ve tried to reduce their screen time. While about half of girls say they have tried to cut back on social media and smartphone use, 40% of boys say the same for each.

Teens’ experiences, by their screen time

Teens who report spending too much time on social media are more likely to report cutting back on it. Roughly half of this group (49%) say they have attempted to do this. However, this number drops to 41% when looking at those who are satisfied with the amount of time they spend on social media.

Elizabeth Koo

Opinion contributor

That winter of my high school freshman year, I unraveled. My stress levels skyrocketed. Despite my A-studded report card, I’d stare at an essay prompt for hours, paralyzed. I wasn’t showering. I wasn’t sleeping. At 1 a.m. or 2 a.m., I’d be awake, bingeing on webtoons. I wanted quick relief. I turned to ChatGPT.

If you had asked me two years ago if I would use artificial intelligence for emotional support, I would have looked at you like you were an idiot. But, over time, I often found the only place where I could open up was AI. It has helped me deal with myself in my darkest moments, which shouldn’t have been true. But it is.

That’s why even though I wouldn’t recommend using ChatGPT specifically for mental health due to privacy concerns, I have come to think that AI has potential to be a mental support for teens like me, who don’t feel comfortable talking to our friends or parents about our mental health.

I still remember the time my sister practically begged my South Korean mother for a therapist, she started ranting about how only “crazy people” got therapists. I wasn’t making the same mistake.

Calling a crisis hotline seemed like overkill. I toyed with the idea of seeing my school therapist but decided against it. It felt too daunting to talk face-to-face with a therapist. Online options weren’t much better.

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I was desperate.

What the heck? I finally thought. ChatGPT can answer back, kinda like a therapist. Maybe I should try that out.

‘You don’t have to justify feeling this way’

So I wrote to ChatGPT, an act which in itself felt cathartic. I wrote paragraphs of misspelled words, bumpy capitalization and unhinged grammar, fingers stumbling, writing about everything – how I couldn’t stop reading webtoons, how much I hated school, hated life. I wrote in a way I would have only dared to write if only to a chatbot.

In response, ChatGPT was tirelessly compassionate.

“I’m sorry you’re dealing with that,” it’d start, and just seeing those words made me feel as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

Using ChatGPT as your therapist: How to make it work for you

Soon, I even told ChatGPT how sometimes I was scared of my dad because of his biting sarcasm – something that I doubt I would have told a therapist about as quickly. ChatGPT responded by explaining that my fear was valid, that harm didn’t just come physically but also emotionally.

One line struck a chord in me: “You don’t have to justify feeling this way – it’s real, and it matters.”

It hit hard because I realized that’s what I wanted to hear from my mom my entire life. To her credit, my mom tried. She’d give her best advice, usually something like, “get over it.” As an immigrant who couldn’t express her feelings in English, she learned to swallow them down. But even though I wanted to do the same, I couldn’t. Oftentimes, awake at 2 a.m., I’d feel as if I were rotting.

Yet somehow, the first thing to show me emotional intelligence wasn’t a person – it was a chatbot.

“Thank you,” I remember writing to ChatGPT. “I feel a lot calmer now.”

Sometimes the best option is the one that’s available

Of course, there are critics who worry that turning to chatbots for emotional support might foster obsession and even exacerbate mental health issues. Honestly? I don’t think artificial intelligence should be a replacement for real mental support systems. But the fear of using AI misses the bigger picture: Many teens don’t have access to a “safe place.”

As of March, President Donald Trump revoked $11.4 billion in funding for mental health and addiction treatment. By July, his administration shut down a suicide hotline for LGBTQ+ youth, leaving countless teens stranded.

According to Dr. Jessica Schleider, associate professor at Northwestern University, about 80% of teens with moderate to severe mental health conditions aren’t able to get treatment. The reasons varied, but many reflected my own – not feeling our parents would take us seriously, worrying about stigma or cost.

I am also not alone in my use of ChatGPT: 28% of parents report their children using AI for emotional support. Yes, instead of turning to a trusted therapist or adult, these children were finding real comfort in bots.

In a 2024 YouGov survey, 50% of participants said the 24/7 availability of these chatbots was helpful for mental health purposes.

However questionable, sometimes the best option is to turn to the only resource for teens that is available: artificial intelligence. I know for a fact that it’s helped me. I can only hope it can help others.

If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services.

Elizabeth Koo is a student at the Kinkaid School in Houston with a passion for storytelling and a keen interest in culture, technology and education.

Parents can support their kids at every age to make the transition back to school a little easier

The annual back-to-school transition can be a major source of stress for many children, especially in the post-COVID world. Increased social anxiety, fear of bullying, and mounting peer pressure are common struggles. Instead of telling children to toughen up or downplaying their concerns, it’s important for parents to normalize anxious feelings and remind their children that nervousness is completely natural. Brooke Campbell, a Clinical Therapist at Loma Linda University Behavioral Health, encourages parents to recognize nerves and anxiety in their children as an opportunity to open communication. “Asking questions like, ‘What’s making you nervous?’ provides a space to brainstorm solutions together,” Campbell says. By identifying the root cause of a child or teen’s back-to-school anxiety, parents can offer the right support to ease the transition from summer break to the classroom and set their child up for success. While back-to-school anxiety can look different depending on a child’s age, Campbell offers practical advice to help parents support children at every stage. Elementary school Young children often experience separation anxiety when starting school for the first time or spending extended periods away from home. Campbell says it’s common for little kids to have thoughts like: When will they come to get me? What if I don’t make friends? What if people don’t like me? I’ll never make as many friends as my older sibling However, Campbell warns that young children often don’t have the vocabulary or self-awareness to say, “I’m feeling anxious.” “Anxiety can show up through nonverbal cues and changes in behavior,” Campbell explains. “Pay attention to signs that may seem small — nervous tics, obsessive hair twirling, persistent coughing, eye twitches, repetitive movements, nail biting, muscle spasms, or skin scratching.” These subtle behaviors can be indicators that a child is struggling emotionally. On the other hand, mild symptoms like sweating, being a little shy, or expressing nerves with some tears are normal pre-jitters in the first days back at school and might not be signs of anything out of the ordinary for their age. How parents can help elementary-aged children

Starting the day with sugary foods can spike anxiety, whereas balanced meals with protein, complex carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables can help regulate mood and support brain function.

“Setting kids up with the right fuel gives them a better chance of managing their emotions and staying focused throughout the day,” Campbell says.

She also encourages parents to acknowledge what their kids are feeling rather than shaming a child for being nervous. A simple response to an anxious child is “I understand you’re nervous. How can I help?”

Finally, small gestures like putting their favorite stuffed animal into their backpack or packing a special snack for lunch can provide some ease during the school day. Giving children some sense of control and comfort during uncertain transitions can make a powerful difference.

Middle school

Middle school can be one of the most challenging periods in a child’s life. Not only are they adjusting to a new school environment, but they’re also navigating puberty. Parents may struggle to keep up with these changes, sometimes finding it frustrating when their child becomes moody or distant.

“Because of puberty, middle school is when kids become more self-conscious,” Campbell says. “They’re noticing how their bodies are changing and becoming hyper-aware of their differences from peers.

The pressure of social comparisons can often lead to bullying, intensifying a child’s anxiety and sense of isolation.

“When kids don’t know what to expect, or fear rejection, it becomes incredibly difficult to feel secure,” Campbell says.

How parents can help middle schoolers

Giving middle schoolers a sense of control is key. While you might not send them off with a stuffed animal anymore, parents can empower their children by helping them build confidence and self-esteem. For example, if a child is nervous about starting school without knowing anyone, parents can research school clubs, teacher names, and class activities ahead of time.

“Let them know what they’re good at,” Campbell says. “Celebrate their strengths and remind them that they’re worthy, loved, and uniquely talented.”

For children worried about bullying, parents can help them identify trusted adults at school and discuss how to report issues to teachers or counselors. Knowing where to turn can help kids feel more secure and empowered.

High School

One of the most pivotal times in a child’s life is high school. Increasing academic pressure, personal identity development, and looming questions about the future can make the high school experience an overwhelming, anxiety-inducing time for teenagers. And their stress only increases as they progress from freshman year to senior year.

“One major stressor is academic performance,” Campbell says. “Test anxiety and pressure over grades are rampant, made worse in the wake of COVID-19, which disrupted learning and heightened mental health challenges.”

Many teens see grades as make-or-break moments, believing one bad score could ruin their future.

However, the pressure doesn’t stop with academics. Failing a driver’s test, struggling to keep up with a social life, and romantic relationships add additional layers of anxiety and potential feelings of shame.

For seniors, that final year of high school also means the uncertainty of college admissions, fear of being unprepared for life outside of the campus, or even having to move out after graduation.

How parents can help high schoolers

To help support high school students, Campbell says that parents need to listen more, check in often, and remind them that it’s okay not to have it all figured out.

“While teens may crave independence, they still need guidance, support, and reassurance,” Campbell says. “Parents shouldn’t try to control the ship, but they should absolutely remain on board.”

Teens benefit from the wisdom and experience of their parents, especially as they face challenges like finding a job, applying to college, or managing basic responsibilities for the first time. Simple gestures like helping them with job applications can ease the transition into adulthood and show that they’re not alone.

Campbell also encourages parents to normalize seeking help, whether that is with a teacher, school counselor, or therapist.

“Most schools have mental health resources, but teens need to be reminded that using them doesn’t mean they’re weak. It means they’re taking responsibility for their well-being,” Campbell says.