How many children use Tik Tok against the rules? Most, study finds

 

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether Congress can ban Tik Tok, new research highlights the health risks that top social media platforms pose to children. 

Most 11- and 12-year-olds use Tik Tok and other social media despite the platforms’ age restrictions, and many show signs of addiction to social media, a new UC San Francisco study found.

Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat require users to be at least 13 years old to have an account. But the study found that a majority of 11- and 12-years olds across the country have accounts on the platforms, and 6.3% have a social media account they hide from their parents.

The study includes data from a national sample of over 10,000 children between the ages of 11 and 15. It appears in the January issue of the journal Academic Pediatrics. 

On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments against Congress’ ban on Tik Tok, which is set to take effect Jan. 19th. The case centers on national security, but researchers encourage lawmakers to consider children’s welfare, as well.  

“Policymakers need to look at Tik Tok as a systemic social media issue and create effective measures that protect children online,” said Jason Nagata, MD, a pediatrician at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals and the lead author of the study. “Tik Tok is the most popular social media platform for children, yet kids reported having more than three different social media accounts, including Instagram and Snapchat.”  

In a previous study, Nagata found that problematic social media use amongst children included elements of addiction, such as the inability to stop despite trying, withdrawal, tolerance, conflict, and relapse.   

In the current study, 25% of children with social media accounts reported often thinking about social media apps, and 25% said they use the apps to forget about their problems; 17% tried to use social media less but couldn’t; and 11% said using social media too much had hurt their schoolwork. 

“Our study revealed a quarter of children reported elements of addiction while using social media, with some as young as eleven years old. The research shows underage social media use is linked with greater symptoms of depression, eating disorders, ADHD, and disruptive behaviors. When talking about social media usage and policies, we need to prioritize the health and safety of our children.” 

To address the negative impacts of screen time and social media on children, the American Academy of Pediatrics has created the Family Media Plan. The plan gives families and children the opportunity to choose how they want to schedule their time online and offline.  

“Every parent and family should have a family media plan to ensure children and adults stay safe online and develop a healthy relationship with screens and social media,” said Nagata, a father of two young children. 

“Parents can create strong relationships with their children by starting open conversations and modeling good behaviors,” he said. “This is something I try to do with my own children.” 

AI Can Help or Harm Learning

 Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to revolutionize how humans work, and has already demonstrated promise in significantly improving human productivity. However, a key remaining question is how generative AI affects learning, namely, how humans acquire new skills as they perform tasks. This kind of skill learning is critical to long-term productivity gains, especially in domains where generative AI is fallible and human experts must check its outputs. 

This study involves the impact of generative AI, specifically OpenAI's GPT-4, on human learning in the context of math classes at a high school. In a field experiment involving nearly a thousand students, the authors have deployed and evaluated two GPT based tutors, one that mimics a standard ChatGPT interface (called GPT Base) and one with prompts designed to safeguard learning (called GPT Tutor). Consistent with prior work, the results show that access to GPT-4 significantly improves performance (48% improvement for GPT Base and 127% for GPT Tutor). 

However,  when access is subsequently taken away, students actually perform worse than those who never had access (17% reduction for GPT Base). That is, access to GPT-4 can harm educational outcomes. These negative learning effects are largely mitigated by the safeguards included in GPT Tutor. Our results suggest that students attempt to use GPT-4 as a "crutch" during practice problem sessions, and when successful, perform worse on their own. Thus, to maintain long-term productivity, we must be cautious when deploying generative AI to ensure humans continue to learn critical skills.

More than half of college students report alcohol-related harms from others

 

More than half of US college students experienced alcohol-related harms caused by others, according to the first national probability-based survey of such harms conducted in 20 years. The findings, published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review in December, shed light on how others’ drinking affects students’ health, academics, and safety. 

“Our research reveals the far-reaching and often overlooked impact of alcohol on college campuses,” says study lead author Jih-Cheng (Jack) Yeh, a PhD candidate in health services and policy research at Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH). “Alcohol-related harms extend well beyond the drinker, influencing the broader campus community. These harms disrupt lives, strain campus resources, and create ripple effects that touch every part of the university experience.”

The study surveyed more than 1,900 students at 46 colleges and universities across the United States. Researchers found that 53.5 percent of students reported experiencing at least one harm caused by someone else’s drinking, ranging from verbal abuse and physical confrontations to academic disruptions and emotional distress.

The results showed that more than half of college sophomores and juniors—an estimated six million students—reported experiencing at least one alcohol-related harm. Students who identified as White, cisfemale, transgender, gender-nonconforming, or of higher socioeconomic status, as well as those living with roommates, attending four-year institutions, or participating in Greek life or intercollegiate athletics, were at greater risk.

The most commonly reported harm was babysitting drinkers (33.8 percent), followed by social harms, such as physical or psychological distress (23.5 percent), sleep or study disruptions (15 percent), and verbal harassment (14.3 percent). Other harms included being emotionally hurt/neglected or feeling threatened/afraid (13.1 percent), having unwanted sexual contact (5.1 percent), being physically assaulted (4.3 percent), and experiencing academic consequences such as dropping a class or transferring schools (3.1 percent).

“Heavy drinking among students causes collateral damage beyond the student drinkers themselves,” says study co-author Dr. Pamela Trangenstein, collaborator at Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute. “It is critical for the success and well-being of all students that we track, prevent and protect students from experiencing these harms.”

The new study adds to a bevy of research highlighting the dangers of alcohol consumption, including a recent advisory by the US Surgeon General that links alcohol consumption to seven types of cancer and suggests that alcohol beverages should display a warning label about this risk.

The researchers recommend several strategies for mitigating alcohol-related harms, including place-based initiatives that reduce alcohol consumption in university housing, targeted interventions with members of Greek life and student athletes, and greater use of evidence-based strategies to reduce and prevent alcohol consumption, including screening with personalized and normative feedback, limits on happy hours and drink-price discounting, and raising state alcohol taxes. These measures, they argue, could help reduce not only the direct effects of alcohol misuse but also the collateral damage experienced by others.

“College drinking is sometimes seen as a rite of passage, but this rite has dangerous and harmful ripple effects,” says study senior author Dr. David Jernigan, professor of health law, policy & management at BUSPH. “There is much more that campuses and governments can do to better protect students from these harms.”

How College Proximity Shapes Students’ Enrollment Choices

This study estimates how the relationship between geographic access to public two- and four-year postsecondary institutions and postsecondary outcomes varies across race-ethnicity and socioeconomic status. 

The authors find that students are sensitive to the distance they must travel to access public colleges and universities, but there are heterogeneous effects across students – particularly with regard to distance to public two-year colleges (i.e., community colleges). White, Asian, and higher-income students who live in a community college desert (i.e., at least 30 minutes driving time from the nearest public two-year college) substitute towards four-year colleges and are more likely to complete bachelor’s degrees. 

Meanwhile, Black, Hispanic, and lower-income students respond to living in a community college desert by forgoing college enrollment altogether, reducing the likelihood that they earn associate’s and reducing the likelihood that they ultimately transfer to four-year colleges and earn bachelor’s degrees. 

These relationships persist up to eight years following high school graduation, resulting in substantial long-term gaps in overall degree attainment by race-ethnicity and income in areas with limited postsecondary access.

Exposure to School Racial Segregation and Late-Life Cognitive Outcomes

 

Full report

Zhuoer Lin, PhD^1,2; Yi Wang, PhD³; Thomas M. Gill, MD³; et alXi Chen, PhD^2,4,5

Author Affiliations Article Information

JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8(1):e2452713. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.52713

Key Points

Question  Is school racial segregation during childhood associated with cognitive outcomes in later life among non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White US residents?

Findings  In this cross-sectional study of a nationally representative sample of 21 121 persons, Black individuals exposed to high levels of school segregation had lower cognitive scores and a higher likelihood of cognitive impairment and dementia in later life than those with low exposure. These findings were significant after accounting for a comprehensive array of covariates and life-course mediators; no associations were found among White individuals.

Meaning  These findings suggest that strengthened efforts to reduce school racial segregation could have lasting benefits for cognitive health and advance racial equity, particularly given the enduring segregation of schools as a prominent form of structural racism in the US.

Abstract

Importance  Disparities in cognition, including dementia occurrence, persist between non-Hispanic Black (hereinafter, Black) and non-Hispanic White (hereinafter, White) older adults, and are possibly influenced by early educational differences stemming from structural racism. However, the association between school racial segregation and later-life cognition remains underexplored.

Objective  To investigate the association between childhood contextual exposure to school racial segregation and cognitive outcomes in later life.

Design, Setting, and Participants  This cross-sectional study examined a nationally representative sample of US older adults from the Health and Retirement Study. Both restricted childhood residence data and publicly available cognitive assessment data (survey years 1995-2018) were used for Black and White participants aged 65 years and older. Data analyses were performed from March 2, 2023, to October 22, 2024.

Exposures  State-level Black and White dissimilarity index for public elementary schools in the late 1960s (range, 0-100) was used to measure school segregation. States were categorized into high segregation (≥83.6) and low segregation (<83.6) based on the top quintile.

Main Outcomes and Measures  Cognitive scores, cognitive impairment, and dementia were assessed using the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status and proxy assessment. Multilevel regression analyses were conducted stratified by race and ethnicity, adjusting for sociodemographic covariates. Potential early-life and midlife mediators, including educational attainment, were assessed.

Results  The study sample included 3566 Black (16 104 observations) and 17 555 White (90 874 observations) participants. The mean (SD) age of the sample was 75.6 (7.5) years, and 62 187 (58.1%) were female. Participants exposed to high vs low segregation exhibited lower cognitive scores (13.6 vs 14.5) and a higher prevalence of cognitive impairment (37.0% vs 28.0%) and dementia (14.1% vs 9.3%). Multilevel analyses revealed a significant negative association between school segregation and later-life cognitive outcomes among Black participants, but not among White participants, after adjusting for covariates. Potential mediators across the life course, including educational attainment, explained 57.6% to 72.6% of the association, yet the findings were significant among Black participants for all outcomes. In the model including all mediators and covariates, Black participants exposed to high segregation exhibited significantly lower cognitive scores (coefficient, −0.26; 95% CI, −0.43 to −0.09) and a higher likelihood of cognitive impairment (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.35; 95% CI, 1.12-1.63) and dementia (AOR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.03-1.54).

Conclusions and Relevance  This cross-sectional study of Black and White older individuals found that childhood exposure to school segregation was associated with late-life cognition among the Black population. Given the increasing amount of school segregation in the US, educational policies aimed at reducing segregation are needed to address health inequities. Clinicians may leverage patients’ early-life educational circumstances to promote screening, prevention, and management of cognitive disorders.

Introduction

Cognitive impairment poses considerable challenges for older adults,¹ with Alzheimer disease and related dementias affecting millions of US residents and the burden escalating as the population ages. Marked racial and ethnic disparities persist.² Cognitive disorders disproportionally impact disadvantaged populations, diminishing individual well-being and imposing substantial burdens on caregivers and families, thereby exacerbating societal racial and ethnic disparities.³

Emerging evidence underscores the profound influence of adverse early-life circumstances on brain development and cognitive decline over the lifespan.^4-6 Racial differences in early educational environments, particularly those rooted in structural racism, appear to be pivotal in shaping cognition in later life.^7-9

School racial segregation (hereinafter, school segregation), a major aspect of US education systems, may exert particularly profound effects on cognition.¹⁰ This practice physically segregates students in educational institutions based on racial backgrounds, resulting in vastly unequal educational experiences, qualities, and opportunities between White and minoritized populations. Despite the historic Brown v Board of Education ruling, US schools continue to struggle with heightened levels of segregation,^11,12 with more than half of students attending schools in districts that have predominantly White or racial and ethnic minority group populations, and approximately 40% of Black students attending schools with populations that are 90% to 100% racial and ethnic minority groups.^13,14

The Impact of a Desegregation Busing Program on Student Outcomes

Boston students who are bused to suburban school districts through the METCO school desegregation program have stronger academic and labor market outcomes than similar students who apply to be bussed but are not selected.

The Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) program in Boston is a voluntary program, for urban students and suburban school districts, that busses non-White students from Boston to wealthier, Whiter suburbs. In Busing to Opportunity? The Impacts of the METCO Voluntary School Desegregation Program on Urban Students of Color (NBER Working Paper 32864), Elizabeth Setren examines how participation in the METCO program affected students over the period 1991 through 2020.

METCO students attend schools where a much higher percentage of the students plan to go to a four-year college than in the Boston public school system. On average, Boston students who were offered seats in the METCO program by first grade attended high schools at which 81 percent of the students planned to attend 4-year colleges, 92 percent graduated from high school in four years, and 74 percent enrolled in a four-year college. For students who applied to the METCO program but were not admitted, the comparable statistics were 62 percent, 82 percent, and 55 percent. The student peer groups in suburban schools also differ on other dimensions: they are far less likely to be economically disadvantaged and less likely to have special needs or to have been suspended from school.

Setren finds that students who applied to the METCO program and were admitted were 13 percentage points more likely to graduate from high school on time, 22 percentage points more likely to enroll in a four-year college, and 16 percentage points more likely to graduate from a four-year college than their peers who applied to the program but were not offered an opportunity to participate.

Parents could apply to the METCO program on behalf of their children at any time from birth through twelfth grade. Almost three-quarters of applications were submitted for children who had not yet started first grade. The METCO program received requests from the suburban school districts for students in particular grade, racial, and gender subgroups. Since there were more applicants than available seats, METCO staff admitted students from the waitlist. The study considers only the children who applied before first grade; because the METCO program administrators would have no any information on the academic performance of these students. The METCO applicants who are selected for participation are broadly comparable to the applicants who are not — they have similar demographics, parents with similar levels of educational achievement, and come from similar neighborhoods.

Setren points out that there is selection bias in the group of Boston students who apply to the METCO program; this is why the comparisons focus only on applicants and do not compare METCO students to all other Boston Public School (BPS) students. Only 20 percent of METCO applicants are Latino, compared to 42 percent of BPS students who did not apply. Immigrant families apply to METCO at only about one-eighth the rate of non-immigrants. METCO students are more likely to have a mother with a bachelor's degree and less likely to be considered economically disadvantaged than the general BPS student population.

Being selected from the METCO waitlist had pronounced effects on student outcomes. METCO participants were more likely to enroll in four-year colleges than METCO applicants who were not selected to participate: 23 percentage points more likely for male students and 16 percentage points more likely for female students. The effects were larger for students whose parents did not have a bachelor's degree — 83 percent of the METCO students — than for those whose parents did. At age 35, on average, students who were selected to participate in the METCO program make $16,250 more than those who applied to the program but were not selected from the waitlist. Increased earnings of METCO students are observed at earlier ages as well.

— Greta Gaffin

In-Person Schooling and Juvenile Violence

 While investments in schooling generate large private and external returns, negative peer interactions in school may generate substantial social costs. Using data from four national sources (Uniform Crime Reports, National Incident-Based Reporting System, National Crime Victimization Survey, National Electronic Injury Surveillance System) and a variety of identification strategies, this study comprehensively explores the effect of in-person schooling on contemporaneous juvenile violence.

 Using a proxy for in-person schooling generated from anonymized smartphone data and leveraging county-level variation in school calendars — including unique, large, localized changes to in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic — the authors find that in-person schooling is associated with a 28 percent increase in juvenile violent crime. 

The effects are largest in larger schools and in jurisdictions with weaker anti-bullying policies, consistent with both concentration effects and a peer quality channel. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that relative to closed K-12 schools, in-person schooling generates $233 million in monthly violent crime costs.