This is part one of an article on the effects of digital devices and online spaces on the well-being of young people, written by Tricia Yeoh and Chua Sook Ning.

While the investigation is still unfolding, the boy apparently left a handwritten note indicating he may have been influenced by a range of different cultural artefacts including anime, video games, and past US school-shooting incidents. The Selangor police also raised the possibility that certain social media content may have shaped his mindset.

This event has compelled Malaysians to reconsider its policies and approaches towards children and teenagers. At the time of writing, the government has announced it is considering a ban on the use of personal devices in schools for those under 16, as well as to raise the minimum social media age limit to 16.

While some studies show that use of digital and social media does have some benefits, including opportunities for social contact and exposure to new knowledge, the converse is also true: there is an increased and unsupervised risk of exposure to inappropriate and unsafe content and contacts.

The negative effects of social media on children and adolescents have led to governments applying age restrictions to digital platforms. Australia is the first country to ban social media for those under 16 (to be implemented by December), while Singapore is similarly likely to roll out age-appropriate content on social media platforms.

But while its efficacy and feasibility is not yet known, there is a broad consensus among experts that a ban alone is insufficient to prevent harm and promote the well-being of Malaysian children and adolescents.

This goal requires a whole-of-society approach, including having clearly defined duties of care for digital service providers, teaching digital literacy in schools, and having clear household rules on content, communication, and co-viewing.

How did we get here?

In his book “The Anxious Generation” (2024), social psychologist Jonathan Haidt attributes the sharp increases in depression and anxiety among US adolescents between 2010 and 2020 to the widespread adoption of the smartphone.

He argues that it was precisely the arrival of the smartphone that changed life for youths, through what he calls the “great rewiring of childhood”. Among the harms that smartphones – and by extension, easy access to social media or other digital platforms – created were social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, and addiction.

Haidt highlights that girls’ social lives moved onto platforms that escalated the existing peer pressure of comparing themselves with others to fit a social image.

Meanwhile, boys “burrowed deeper into the virtual world … particularly immersive online multiplayer video games, YouTube, Reddit, and hardcore pornography”, available for free, right on their phones.

The “gradual disengagement with the real world and deepening immersion in the virtual world” appears to be more common among boys who feel frustrated, isolated, and disaffected. They turn to virtual reality – such as gaming, online networks, or pornography – to escape and avoid real-world problems and their own emotional experiences.

These boys become increasingly drawn into “virtual packs”, which is only natural given that boys thrive when they have a group of friends.

Another concerning development involving vulnerable boys within some online spaces is the rise of incel culture – highlighted in the widely applauded Netflix series “Adolescence” – which refers to men who blame women and society for their lack of romantic success.

At the core of this lies misogynistic tendencies, which may facilitate violence targeting women and girls.

Could these global trends be deeply embedded in Malaysian online spaces, too? After all, our own National Health and Morbidity Surveys shows that mental health issues among children aged five to 15 have risen from 12% to 16% in less than a decade.

Among secondary school students, loneliness has doubled from 8% to 16%, and suicidal thoughts have increased from 8% to 13%. In 2022, almost one in five secondary schoolboys and over a third of girls reported symptoms of depression.

The 2023 Malaysia Youth Mental Health Index paints an equally troubling picture in older youths (aged 15-30): some 16% experience anxiety, while a staggering 40% experience symptoms of depression. New research is needed to establish whether these trends are linked to the usage of digital media in Malaysia.

Nevertheless, it is time that Malaysian parents, as well as the whole of society, approaches the internet – and access to it through smartphones – with great wisdom and care.

Don’t miss part two of this article tomorrow.

This article was written by Tricia Yeoh, public policy analyst, social science lecturer and advisor for Relate Malaysia, and Chua Sook Ning, clinical psychologist and public health practitioner, lecturer and founder of Relate Malaysia.

This article was originally published on makchic.com, a Malaysian-based online parenting site. Since 2013, makchic has been providing trustworthy and authentic family-related content. For diverse stories of parenthood that inform, support and uplift all families, visit makchic.com and follow them on Instagram and Facebook.