How parents can help their children navigate social media and their emotions – KMVT

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 90% of teens ages 13 to 17 have some form of social media.From Instagram, to Snapchat, Tik Tok and Facebook, social media is a part of almost everyone’s life and that includes kids as young as 4th grade.“Social media can impact all of us in a variety of ways, and certainly I would say one of the ways it impacts all of us, kids and adults alike, is we tend to compare our worst day to everybody else’s highlight reel,” said Heather Leishman, a counselor at South Hills Middle School in Twin Falls.When kids are young, they don’t have the coping mechanisms to handle and process what they are seeing on social media.“Really hope and try to educate kids and families to try to limit or keep kids off of that social media until that later age when they have those skills to process and understand social media,” said Brook Heath, a clinical supervisor with the behavioral health department.Brook Heath from the Department of Health and Welfare says the goal is to wait until 8th grade to allow your children on social media, but even
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