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County superintendent links teen anxiety spikes to social media, urges phone-reduction policies in schools
Summary
Stanislaus County Superintendent Scott Kuykendahl told the Board that national data show rising teen depression, self-harm and suicide after social-media adoption, urged local phone-free school policies and noted a state requirement for districts to adopt device-reduction policies by June 30, 2026.
Superintendent Scott Kuykendahl told the Board of Supervisors on Oct. 21 that the county office of education’s new initiative, “Rewired and Inspired,” responds to an apparent rise in youth anxiety and self-harm that coincided with widespread social-media adoption between 2010 and 2015. He urged schools, families and community groups to reduce students’ access to smartphones during the school day and recommended delaying social-media exposure until mid-adolescence.
Kuykendahl said emergency-department visits for…
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