Social media apps such as Tik Tok, Instagram, and YouTube are entertaining, but could they be impacting our mental health and could that impact be even stronger on adolescents?

The Mental Health Ministry team is hosting an informational forum and discussion Sunday November 12 from 5:00-6:30pm on the impacts of social media on adolescents’ mental health. The event is open to all, with a special invitation to teenagers and parents. The guest presenter will be Dr. Angie Calvin, an educational psychologist and postdoctoral research associate. Dr. Calvin will be presenting results of research and practical tips for using social media in safe and healthy ways.

Dr. Calvin is a postdoctoral research associate, working with the Department of Pediatrics at UW-Madison. She is part of the Learning More From Adolescents Online (LMFAO) research team led by Dr. Ellen Selkie, which examines digital media use among adolescents with a particular attention to youth from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and sexual and gender minority youth. Dr. Calvin is also a research associate on the Social Media and Adolescent Health Research Team (SMAHRT) led by Dr. Megan Moreno where she works on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Friends of Children project, assessing how adolescents seek health information online. And finally, she is also part of the AAP Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health research team that aims to help families navigate social media in healthy ways.

Please join us Sunday, November 12, 5:00-6:30 pm in the chapel. (This event will serve as the9^th-12^th grade Youth Group event for this night. Middle School Youth will meet as they normally do.) If you require childcare, please let us know by October 29.