Teens and Cell Phones

Dear Ms Smartphone: Is this normal? My daughter is 15 and a junior in high school. She is always taking pictures of herself…more than 20 a day…. Then she shares some of them with her friends. When I ask her about it she says all teenage girls do this now. Dana, Petaluma

Dear Dana: As a mom to boys, I am less sure about the habits of teenage girls. But surely all teenagers push our buttons and push new technology in different ways. My first concern is that your daughter has clothes on in these pictures. Second, find out whether she is actually posting all those snaps- there is an off-beat chance she is developing her skills in digital photography. Be aware that teens “curate” their social media pages and may have only a few pictures posted at a time- so your daughter may be constantly deleting any pictures that don’t get enough likes, don’t have good enough lighting, or just don’t seem cool enough. But, if she is posting lots and lots of pictures everyday, then you should dig further, in light of recent studies that show a link between Facebook and mental health. Consider this older article on social media : selfies do not empower young women.