> “We need to stop treating kids as if they’re idiots”

There is a balance here, yes kids are smarter than we probably give them credit for. But they're also more vulnerable when it comes to their social circles, as well as addictive habits.

Social media causes issues with us adults, let alone our young kids who also get caught up in the same messes.

You can throw all sorts of arbitrary "perhaps this is why" topics at it to potentially explain why kids have been struggling with their mental health and its decline. Its likely not one thing but a combination of things, of which social media is thought to be the predominant reason.

> not even a meaningful correlation between the amount of time kids are on social media or on smartphones and their mental health

There have been a large number of studies and meta-analysis that show detrimental impacts of short form video content on people in general not just kids. Across their attention spans, their reward centers and also its algorithmic ability to push content to minds who struggle to ignore it, or which creates false anxieties through content which generalises mental health or relationship issues.