Listen to this articleLong Island parents strongly support a school ban on cell phone use and curbing social media companies. That’s according to the latest Oceanside-based Mount Sinai South Nassau “Truth in Medicine Poll.”
In the poll, 82% said social media companies should do more to limit children’s use of their apps. And 85% of respondents said they supported state laws limiting social media feeds for minors.
“Excessive screen time and social media use can have detrimental effects on the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of children and adults,” Dr. Adhi Sharma, president of Mount Sinai South Nassau, said in a news release about the latest poll.
“The home and school are crucial environments where we can mitigate these risks and establish guidelines that foster creative, productive, and socially constructive use of screen time while emphasizing hobbies, indoor and outdoor pursuits, and face-to-face interactions,” Sharma added.
The findings were released earlier this week at Optimum’s Bethpage headquarters. Optimum hosted the event in support of the Long Island Association to foster community outreach. The poll, which was sponsored by Bethpage Federal Credit Union, was conducted from Aug. 1-5 via landlines and cell phones, with 600 Long Island and New York City parents who have at least one child under 18.
The poll comes at a time when New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is pushing for a ban on internet access on students’ cellphones when they are in classes, while Assemblyman Keith Brown of Commack has introduced a bill prohibiting students from possessing their cellphones during classroom instruction. Meanwhile, school districts across the state, including Hempstead, are banning or placing restrictions on students’ cell phone use within their schools.
The poll found that 72% want their child to have a cell phone at school in case of an emergency, but 77% said they also support a ban on cell phone use in schools during the day.
Concern about overuse of social media is not limited to children. Nearly a third of those polled agree that they also spend too much time on social media on their cell phones. Some 16 percent of adults admit that they may be addicted to their cell phones, although most did not believe it was harming their relationships.
In the poll, 68% said they believe parental controls for their children’s social media use are effective. Asked to estimate their children’s use of social media apps, 27% said their children spend up to two hours per day on social media apps; 34% say they spend between three and four hours; 16 percent say five or more hours per day; and 23% said they are not sure.
In June, Hochul signed into law two bills that target addictive social media apps and regulate social media algorithms. Health experts say the bills made New York State the first in the nation to pass laws regulating social media algorithms.