As both a Louisiana native and a practicing pediatrician in Louisiana, I am writing today about a very important issue that affects not only our children in Louisiana but all children in our nation.   

In the past 10 years as a practicing pediatrician and the past three years as a pediatric obesity medicine specialist, I’ve seen the mental health of children and adolescents worsen. Ten years ago, less than 5% of my clinic visits involved mental health. 

Now, over a third of my visits per clinic day involve behavioral health concerns — including anxiety, depression and even suicidal thoughts. I am having to increasingly refer children younger and younger to psychotherapy and in many cases prescribe antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications to my patients with more severe mental health illnesses. Even worse, at least every few months, I have to send a child straight to the emergency room for suicidal thoughts — oftentimes those thoughts unbeknown to their parents prior to the visit.

My pediatric medical colleagues from across the country are all saying the same thing — young people are in a mental health crisis.

Is it just a coincidence that kids are spending more and more time online? According to a 2024 report from Common Sense Media, excessive screen time and exposure to social media can have devastating effects on youth mental health. The apps that kids are using often amplify harmful content like self-harm and severe dieting, cyberbullying and harassment, predatory marketing practices and more. Not only is this harmful content amplified by the platforms, but these platforms use design features and algorithms that are addictive in nature, hooking our kids to these apps and leading them to dangerous rabbit holes of increasingly extreme content.

In my medical opinion, the increase in social media and screen time use among youth has vastly contributed to this uptick in behavioral health concerns that I see on a daily basis. The most vulnerable kids, like the ones that I care for in Bogalusa — those who are already facing financial and social stress — are especially at risk. This creates a perfect storm of mental health problems and culminates in real mental and physical harm. 

This is particularly apparent in my childhood obesity clinic, where I work with many kids with disordered eating. Many patients have body image concerns that they are not thin enough or that they do not look a certain way. I often ask them where they’re getting that idea. They’ll often respond: “Well, I don’t look like the other kids, and I’m getting bullied on social media.” And, when a teen searches for “beauty” or “thinspiration” images on social media, the algorithm will feed them more of the same content. The content is designed to be more and more extreme so that the youth continues to scroll. For a patient who already has body image concern, this increased exposure to unhealthy content can exacerbate insecurities, disordered eating and self-harm. 

This is an issue that must be addressed now. Just as the government requires children to wear seat belts or sit in booster seats to ensure their physical safety, we need to think about online safety in the same way. We need laws in place to protect kids online. 

Congress is currently considering two bills that would create a much safer digital environment for our kids. The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) would require tech companies to design their platforms to prioritize kids’ safety and well-being, ban targeted advertising to kids and teens, minimize the data collected on kids, force companies to change design features that keep kids scrolling and give parents and kids more tools and safeguards to enjoy the internet without predatory behavior or bullying.

Both bills were overwhelmingly passed by the U.S. Senate this past July, and now it’s up to two of our very own Louisiana lawmakers — House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise — to decide whether these bills will be heard in the U.S. House. Urge them to do the right thing and choose Louisiana kids over tech company profits.