Parents have to "get with it" on social media

The recommendations are bound to prompt eye-rolling and LOLs from many teens, but an influential paediatrician’s group says parents need to know that unrestricted media use can have serious consequences.

It’s been linked with violence, cyberbullying, school woes, obesity, lack of sleep and a host of other problems. It’s not a major cause of these troubles, but “many parents are clueless” about the profound impact media exposure can have on their children, said Dr Victor Strasburger, lead author of the new American Academy of Paediatrics policy.

“This is the 21st century and they need to get with it,” said Strasburger, a University of New Mexico adolescent medicine specialist.