To the Government of Canada,

We write as parents, educators, and concerned citizens urging you to make the mental health and well-being of our children a national priority. Our youth are the next generation of leaders and citizens. Their protection must be foundational.

Across Canada, we are witnessing a troubling rise in children struggling with anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. While mental health is complex, it is impossible to ignore the parallel increase in personal device ownership and unrestricted access to social media. What was once shared family screen time has become constant, private, and portable — often isolating children for hours each day.

Parents implement controls, monitor activity, and set limits, yet these measures are often insufficient. Exposure through peers and other environments quickly undermines household safeguards. Today’s digital landscape inundates developing brains with constant stimulation, validation-seeking, and algorithm-driven content designed to capture attention. Adolescents, whose impulse control and long-term judgment are still forming, are navigating systems built to keep them engaged at any cost.

The 24/7 nature of social media has transformed bullying. Harassment no longer ends at the school doors. Mistakes can be recorded, shared, and preserved indefinitely. Constant comparison to curated and unrealistic portrayals erodes self-worth at a critical stage of identity development.

We restrict alcohol and driving because we recognize developmental readiness and safety risks. Yet children are granted largely unrestricted access to digital environments that profoundly affect mental health and cognitive development. Awareness campaigns alone are not enough. Prevention must accompany support.

In schools, educators increasingly compete with devices for attention and manage cyberbullying, non-consensual recording, and digital distractions that disrupt learning. Device-free school policies are a positive step and deserve broader national support.

This is not a partisan issue, nor a call to eliminate technology. It is a call for balance, boundaries, and responsible safeguards during the most formative years of life.

We respectfully urge the Government of Canada to:

1. Establish a clear, enforceable national minimum age requirement for social media use, grounded in child development research and aligned with emerging international standards.
2. Implement robust age-verification systems and meaningful content protections for minors.
3. Restrict algorithmic targeting practices that exploit children’s developmental vulnerabilities.
4. Support and expand device-free school policies nationwide.
5. Enact enforceable protections against the non-consensual recording and distribution of minors’ images.
6. Invest in preventative strategies that address root contributors to youth mental health challenges — not solely reactive services.
   Parents cannot carry this burden alone. Protecting children has always required societal guardrails. The digital world should be no exception.

Our children deserve the chance to grow, learn, make mistakes, and build confidence without relentless digital pressure.

We urge you to act with courage and foresight. The well-being of our nation’s youth depends on it.

Respectfully,

The undersigned advocating for the protection and well-being of Canada’s  children.