Teens discuss how social media reshapes childhood in FX docuseries

Teens today have been growing up in a new reality shaped by social media. Docuseries "Social Studies" takes a look at the secret lives of these young people online.

"I think parents don't know the majority of what teens are doing on their phones," Sydney Shear told "Nightline." "I'm very close with my parents. But when I was going through cyberbullying, I think the last thing I wanted was to let my parents down."

Shear is one of the dozens of Los Angeles teens who participated in the documentary, which was mostly shot from the start of the 2021 school year to graduation time in 2022. By volunteering to hand over the contents of their phones and screen recording throughout the course of a school year, the teens expose the brutal realities of growing up online, including issues such as cyberbullying, racism, suicidal ideation and sexual assault.

In the series, Shear shared her experience of being cyberbullied, fueled in part by the sexualized pictures she had posted of herself online.

"I was embarrassed. I was ashamed. And I think a lot of kids are. But it's important that we start this conversation," Shear said.

The series comes at a time of growing awareness about the harms of social media. In June, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, called for a "warning label" on social media in a New York Times op-ed. Several states, including California, are passing legislation to ban or restrict cell phones in the classroom.

"I think we definitely are the guinea pig generation for social media," Shear said.

Docuseries director Lauren Greenfield, who previously helmed the critically acclaimed documentary "Queen of Versailles," has two sons and frequently examines youth culture in her work.

"One of the things that I took away is how toxic comparison culture is, and social media is 24/7 comparison," Greenfield said. "Kids used to compare themselves against their friend group, maybe in their clique, maybe in their class or their school. Now they're comparing themselves against the whole world and images that are fictionalized, that are manufactured, that are retouched, that are not real."

Jonathan Gelfond volunteered at a teen crisis hotline during high school and witnessed some of social media's most toxic impacts firsthand. In the documentary, Gelfond has a phone conversation with someone who has had inappropriate sexual contact online.

"You see in the news stories of teens who have experienced sextortion and end up committing suicide because of that pressure and not wanting to reach out for help," Gelfond said. "I think it's much more prevalent now than it was three years ago when that was filmed. And I think that's really concerning."

While supporting other teens, Gelfond was struggling with his own pressures from social media -- he saw others post their college acceptances online while he faced rejections.

"When you set these high expectations for yourself and you're seeing other people's acceptances on social media, I think when you don't end up getting in these schools that you worked so hard for, that can be really heartbreaking," Gelfond said.

Keshawn Domingo, another participant in the documentary, felt the pressure as well. Domingo used social media to launch a music career and now says he has to keep up a flashy image for his followers.

"You got your top rappers with the most jewelry and top ten watches in the game, and how can I make the world see me as the same person that I look up to?" Domingo said.

Having become a dad at 18 years old, Domingo co-parents his toddler with his ex. Overall, he expressed his gratitude for the opportunities social media has afforded him.

"Use [social media,] don't let it use you," Domingo said by way of advice for his son's generation.

Greenfield believes the burden cannot be on kids to self-regulate their social media use.

"I hope that people listen to the kids," the filmmaker said. "I think that they have ideas about solutions, and I think the discussion about what they're experiencing is going to create solutions."

Some social media companies have started implementing regulations on teen social media use. On Sept. 17, Instagram parent company Meta announced new "teen accounts" that add mandatory restrictions around privacy and sensitive content for children under 16.

"The issue that we have with social media is that it was constructed with all the guardrails removed," Dr. Dave Anderson, a clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute, told "Nightline." "Social media was really created according to behavioral principles in a way that bypasses any sort of gateways in our brains. So that's where we want tech companies to hold themselves accountable for placing those guardrails back onto those apps."

Sydney Shear, now a 20-year-old film student at New York University, has learned and grown from her darkest moments online.

"I think [childhood] would have been a kinder place without it," Shear said. "Hopefully some regulations will come along. But I don't think that that will stop everything. I think people need to learn that social media is a tool and it's also a weapon and we need to learn how to use that appropriately."

ABC News' Marjorie McAfee and Ashley Riegle contributed to this report.

"Social Studies" a five-part docuseries that explores teens' social media worlds, airs Friday, Sept. 27, at 10 p.m. EST on FX and streams the following day on Hulu. Disney is the parent company of Hulu, ABC News and FX.

If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Teens discuss how social media reshapes childhood in FX docuseries originally appeared on abcnews.go.com