Dr. Gray added that teens might push back against these types of boundaries, particularly if parents were trying to enforce them retroactively. “Even though they may still have an emotional reaction.”Help teens understand how social media affects their brains. So teens “are really acting with a very highly active social brain, which is making them very vulnerable to peer pressure” as well as to novelty seeking, she said. Dr. Jensen urged parents to talk to their kids about these brain changes and how they make them particularly vulnerable to some of the more negative effects of social media. All of the content, feedback and stimulation available online “is highly accessible to kids right when their social brain is developing,” she said, describing it as a “perfect storm.”Ask: “Do you feel like you have control over social media, or do you feel like it’s controlling you?”That question is particularly effective at gauging whether a teen’s social media use has become problematic, said Jeff Hancock, the founding director of the Stanford Social Media Lab.

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