More than the physical harm, parents and child psychologists worry about the trend’s effects on girls’ mental health.

When she was in fifth grade, Scarlett Goddard Strahan started to worry about getting wrinkles.

By the time she turned 10, Scarlett and her friends were spending hours on TikTok and YouTube watching influencers tout products for achieving today’s beauty aesthetic: a dewy, “glowy,” flawless complexion. Scarlett developed an elaborate skin care routine with facial cleansers, mists, hydrating masks and moisturizers.

One night, Scarlett’s skin began to burn intensely and erupted in blisters. Heavy use of adult-strength products had wreaked havoc on her skin. Months later, patches of tiny bumps remain on Scarlett’s face, and her cheeks turn red in the sun.

“I didn’t want to get wrinkles and look old,” says Scarlett, who recently turned 11. “If I had known my life would be so affected by this, I never would have put these things on my face.”

The skin care obsession offers a window into the role social media plays in the lives of today’s youth and how it shapes the ideals and insecurities of girls in particular. Girls are experiencing high levels of sadness and hopelessness. Whether social media exposure causes or simply correlates with mental health problems is up for debate. But to older teens and young adults, it’s clear: Extended time on social media has been bad for them, period.

  • WIZARD POPE💫
    0•14 days ago

    I guess. But if the parents just explained why doing that is bad and maybe prohibited her from doing it, it would not have gone this badly. Sure the cause is not the parents fault directly. But by their inaction they contributed more than tiktok.

      • WIZARD POPE💫
        -5•14 days ago

        I know that doing literally anything is better than inaction when your kid is destroying themselves.

        • Rosoe
          3•14 days ago

          The article does not mention what interventions the parents tried. But no, just doing something is not always better than being patient - especially with kids.

          • @DeviantOvary
            6•14 days ago

            Not in detail, but it actually does:

            “Often the mothers are saying exactly what I am but need their child to hear it from an expert,” says Dr. Dendy Engelman, a Manhattan dermatologist. “They’re like, ‘Maybe she’ll listen to you because she certainly doesn’t listen to me.’”

            While younger kids may be reasoned with, teenagers aren’t as easy to handle as some say. Puberty is a hell of a drug.

    • @[email protected]OP
      -1•14 days ago

      Yeah, banning a kid from doing something ‘everyone else is doing’ is a sure-fire way to find out if they follow orders.

      Hint: 90% won’t

      • @Warl0k3
        5•14 days ago

        Man have you ever worked with kids? They’re not some unreasoning automatons that treat “rebel against authority” with the same overriding obedience as “kill all humans”. If you explain things to them like rational actors, out of all demograpics, they are by far the most likely to treat what you’re saying with reasoned consideration.

        • @[email protected]OP
          2•14 days ago

          Yes they will. Banning them from something is not discussing the pros and cons with them tho.