Middle childhood, ranging from ages 9-14, is period of huge developmental changes. At this age, children’s “…physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and identity- overwhelmingly affect the behaviors, attitudes, and thinking…” (Brown & Knowles 3). Different parts of their bodies along with hormone levels are growing and changing, and they crave independence and exploration but still require guidance and supervision from trusted adults. Fagell (2019) adds that, “As their prefrontal cortex develops, they’re malleable, impulsive, and impressionable” (9). Children at this age are trying to make sense of all of these changes that are all happening at once by experimenting with different identities and behaviors to begin to learn about who they are.

Geiser et al. note that regardless of socio-economic status or grade level, middle childhood students are coping with issues related to “social media (e.g., 24/7 bullying, distorted understandings of reality) …peer relationships/bullying…”, starting as early as elementary school, and that these factors negatively impact the mental health of students (3). Despite the fact that K-12 schools across the country are experiencing a mental health crisis, the CDC has data that from 2007-2014, the suicide rate of children ages 10-14 doubled in the United States, with 61.5% of children struggling with major depression receiving no treatment at all (Fagell 11). Recent research and discourse on the impact social media has on early adolescents’ mental health has made it clear the need for earlier and more collaborative intervention and has informed the goal of this site; to inform parents and educators about the youth mental health risks associated with unfiltered social media use as well as to provide resources to more information, community-based resources, instructional tools to be used by parents or educators with their students, as well as platforms to foster parent/teacher communication!