03/31/2026
Read the studies. Tablets, phones, and electronics in general rewire a child's brain.
Dr. Laura Has Been Warning Parents for Years: Get Your Children off Social Media
For more than a decade, Dr. Laura has taken countless calls from concerned parents asking the same questions: Should I give my child a smartphone? Should I have allowed them on social media?
Too often, the story unfolds the same way. A parent gives their child a smartphone, only to discover later that the child has created social media accounts without their knowledge. Soon, the child is staying up all night watching TikTok and YouTube videos. They stop coming out of their room. Their focus on school disappears. Sports, hobbies, and in-person friendships fall away. “What are they doing all day?” Dr. Laura often asks.
The answer: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube—hour after hour. They won’t put the device down. The very device their parents gave them. Dr. Laura has gone so far as to call this a form of abusive parenting.
She has long warned about the damage these platforms can have on children, but many parents didn’t listen. Instead, they gave in to pressure—the desire for their kids to “fit in” with peers already absorbed in social media. The result, she argues, is a generation increasingly struggling with basic educational skills like reading, writing, and math, reflected in declining test scores.
On Wednesday, March 25, a Los Angeles jury signaled that these concerns may have reached a tipping point. The jury awarded $3 million to a plaintiff identified as K.G.M., a 20-year-old California woman who became addicted to social media platforms, including Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram, as well as Google’s YouTube.
The defense framed the case as an attack on First Amendment rights. But critics argue the real issue is the targeting of young minds for profit. The algorithm these platforms had created were designed to intentionally keep people engaged and scrolling. This was part of what the prosecutors argued in the trial, that this very algorithm was purposefully creating the addiction.
This case is part of a growing trend where social media companies are being held accountable for their impact on mental health, particularly among minors. As more lawsuits emerge, the legal landscape for social media platforms may change significantly, leading to stricter regulations and potential reforms in how these companies operate.
Dr. Laura’s message to parents has been consistent and urgent: take control. Remove these devices from your children’s hands when possible. When they must be used, actively monitor their activity. Protect your children from platforms that can expose them to predators, manipulative content, and messaging that can distort their relationships with family and friends.
Look around. Children, teens—even adults—walk through life glued to their screens, scrolling endlessly through short, meaningless bursts of content. People bump into each other on sidewalks. Sit silently at restaurants. Scroll through their phones at work. It’s everywhere.
And the problem doesn’t necessarily stop with social media. For some, it can evolve into deeper digital dependencies—online po*******hy, sports gambling apps, and other compulsive behaviors. Dr. Laura has taken calls from women describing husbands who won’t engage with their families, won’t work, and instead retreat into digital escapism, losing both time and money.
So, the next time you reach for your phone, ask yourself: is there a better alternative? You could put on music, take a walk, enjoy nature, connect with friends over coffee, or spend meaningful time with your family. You could invest in real relationships and real experiences. Or you could keep scrolling.
The choice is yours.
