After talking to nearly 1,100 teens about social media and making a terrifying self-harm discovery, 17-year-old deleted TikTok, Instagram By Rikki Schlott
Published March 18, 2026, 3:15 p.m. ET
New York PostThe kids are not alright — and they know it.
It seems like Americans can’t agree on anything today, but if there’s one thing Gen Z is in lockstep about, it’s this: Social media have robbed them of their time, their happiness and their wellbeing.
Hallie Zilberman, a junior at Aspen High School in Aspen, Colorado, feels it. And she knew she couldn’t be the only one.
So the 17-year-old surveyed 1,084 other teenage girls from around the US, asking about their mental health, to confirm her suspicion that growing up online has devastated her generation. ...