Dear Alaskan,
I’m writing to you about an issue I hear about in every corner of our state: the growing crisis in children’s mental health, and how the online world is affecting it.
The statistics are deeply concerning. Suicide rates among young people have risen dramatically in recent years, more than 60 percent since 2007, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the same time, indicators of poor mental health, specifically among teenage girls, have surged, with nearly 60 percent reporting persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2021—an alarming increase over the past decade…