Earlier on May 22nd, Governor Kathy Hochul reinforced her commitment to protecting the mental health of kids and teenagers by making it a top priority to enact nation-leading legislation addressing online safety and the harmful impacts of social media in the final weeks of the 2024 State Legislative Session. The Governor also highlighted significant progress in bringing mental health care and resources directly to more young people in their homes, schools and communities statewide.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format.

AUDIO of the Governor's remarks.

PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Across the State of New York, there is an epidemic of suffering. Our young people are grappling with feelings of depression, anxiety, a deep sadness that never seems to dissipate. Many of them, shockingly, have even contemplated taking their own lives.

What is the unifying factor that so many of these teenagers share? It's simple. There are a few things here. Our nation weathered a public health crisis that drove many young people away from the human connection into a connection with another world – a darker world. And now, as you'd think they'd be coming out of this, trying to reemerge, trying to make connections again, now they're dealing with the negative effects on mental health that is driven by social media. And the addictive algorithms that bombard users, creating literal addictions.

There are people in this room who say we can find a better way. This does not have to be the future for our children. And I want to thank them. I want to thank Senator Andrew Gounardes for stepping up and leading the charge with Assemblymember Nily Rozic. Let's give them a round of applause. Please stand up. Dr. Ann Sullivan, who's gone to so many schools with me as we've gathered teenagers and heard their own pained voices literally asking us for help. I want to thank you and your department for all you're doing to help eradicate this. Dr. Ann Sullivan. Melinda Person, who's the head of NYSUT, who's dealing with the teachers who are also becoming stressed because they see what's happening before their very eyes. They spend more time with the children. They see the deterioration of their mental health. And her voice here today is also critically important. I want to thank her as well for championing this issue.

We have a student, Mekka Vasquez. I want to thank her for coming over from the Mohonasen Central School District for I asked if she's taking time off school today, she said no, she was off school, so this is even better. I'm even more impressed of what you're doing. And Jarrett Hova, the Senior Advisor and Policy Counsel to the Office of the Attorney General, Tish James, who's been doing an extraordinary job on this, and I'll talk about her in a minute.

But I know about this crisis because New York teens have told me themselves, in their own words. When you don't see me here, it is not unlikely that I'm in a school. Started in the Bronx over a year ago. Found my way through Long Island, Upstate New York. Everywhere I can get into a library and teenagers gather around me, surrounded by people who care deeply about them, their principals, their administrators, trying to say, you know what, we've got something that's unprecedented. Their parents didn't have to deal with this when they were students here. But the main thing is we make sure now that their younger siblings never have to either.

So, I've gone everywhere. We had a youth mental health summit – thousands of people gathered last June. We had our listening tour. And when I listen, maybe this is because I'm a mom and I've raised teenagers. When you hear the pain in their voices, it hits you right here. Because we're hardwired to just make life easier and just more joyful.

Childhood is supposed to be a joyful, happy time. I'm not just talking about toddlers who don't know anybody. Young teens and as you're merging into independence as a 14, 15, 16-year-old, they shouldn't be dark places for you. And the feelings of low self-esteem that just refuses to let go. And this darkness lives on platforms like Instagram, TikTok. These are ruled by addictive algorithms designed to draw the young people deeper and deeper into that darkness over and over. These addictive feeds govern the content that social media feeds up to them, but it has also now taken over their wellbeing. It has gone too far. Not only do they target their insecurities, but it also makes them more inclined to have eating disorders, contemplate self-harm. And they're designed for one thing. When you talk about what addiction means, it's designed to keep them right where they're looking for the longest period of time. There's no escape from the clutches, and they try to collect as much personal information as possible. So young people are still figuring out who they are — kind of a gawky time — except for Mekka who’s figured it all out.

But I mean, it's just an awkward time in life, and I was, like all of you, I was young once. I know it's hard to believe. But the high school, middle school years can be tough. I wasn't the cool kid on campus and there's a lot of loneliness. But I never had continual bombardment to reinforce those feelings. I could find escapes. I found other places to go. I had a job. I made pizza and chicken wings most of high school. It worked out okay.

But these toxic influences could be absolutely devastating. And now we have a mountain of data that confirms what many of us have known all along intuitively, that social media is hurting our kids. Last year, the United States Surgeon General announced that teens who use social media more than three hours a day face double the risk of depression and anxiety symptoms.

Now, think about the kids we know, the teenagers we know. Three hours would be a very light day, right? I've watched my nieces and I have lots of nieces, I have great nieces and I'm watching these kids closely and all of a sudden, they disappear from a family gathering for a long time. I know where they are.

They're not outside kicking a ball, they’re in the clutches of social media. So, you've heard me say this, as Governor of the State of New York, it's my responsibility to keep our people safe and healthy. Safe from all threats. And as a mother and grandmother who's heard directly from parents, I say it's time we step up.

If we as elected adults don't heed the damning data and the cries for help that are coming from across our State and take action, then we have failed in our most instinctive duty: that is to protect children. None of us needed a poll to tell us that New Yorkers expect us to take action to protect the youngest from these addictive algorithms.

Every generation has its own challenges. We stopped marketing tobacco to kids because we knew that was bad for them, we raised the drinking age to what it is now and now we're also meeting that challenge despite opposition. We're going to take action to protect today's young people from the defining problem of our time, and that is the mental health challenges that they're experiencing.

Now, last October, I was joined by Attorney General Letitia James, Senator Andrew Gounardes, Assemblymember Rozic, and concerned parents — many of whom are in this room — from all across the State of New York. We announced legislation to prohibit minors from being exposed to dangerous feeds and guard them from the online entities that work to collect their personal data.

You just ask any parent; how do you feel about your children's personal data being collected for commercial use or other uses? Does that make you sleep better at night? No. So I can tell you today, many months later, it is my priority to ensure that these nation leading bills are passed before the Legislature goes home, and we are making progress.

Again, I want to commend these two leaders. It's been tough out there and you have not flinched a bit. And that to me is something we all should be proud of and praise, because our residents, our parents, our children need your help and we're going to get this done. We have been working with so many partners, other partners in the Legislature who care about this.

Because we'll be judged by whether we met this moment. And I want to give again special recognition to Attorney General James. She's been a remarkable leader on this. And all the parents, advocates — and I'm so glad she's been a great advocate with the parents. And when it comes to something as important in our children's health, doing nothing is not an option.

So, we're going to fight for them. Already we've made enormous strides. This is not a new space for us. We've had to do a lot to safeguard our children's mental health. Our historic $1 billion mental health plan expands treatment for young people wrestling with eating disorders. It grows the number of youth community treatment centers, invests $10 million in youth suicide treatment programs, helped an additional 137 school-based mental health clinics across New York. There's already 1,200. So, every child who needs help can access it. You realize how important that is? The hassle it is when you recognize something could be wrong with your child or they're actually saying to you, I need some help. And the effort involved in trying to find someone who will see them – missed school, you missed work to fit in the appointment. And then they say, “You need to come back every week for maybe a year and we'll see how things go.”

You're missing time at work, your child is missing school, you don't know even if they're going to be there the next year or not, and it's a major stressor for parents who are trying to even do the right thing. This is where a student spends most of their day with a loving, nurturing environment from administrators who care and will institute these in their schools. And the teachers who understand, yes, it's better that you take an hour off and go spend time with that counselor or that therapist because you'll come back more recharged.

My philosophy has always been, we nip these problems now and we can avoid a lifetime of students needing help later. That's why right now matters. Plus, we've also added $19 million for youth-focused enhancements to our continuum of care. Thank you, Dr. Sullivan. And I want to look no further than Mekka, a student who's with us today because she's going to talk about what it meant to have these services, this help available in the confines of her school, not having to go out to a community and search for it. She sees a therapist at school, and it made all the difference.

Unless we take on the addictive algorithms that give birth to so many of these challenges, then we're just treating the symptoms, right? Let's get at the cause. Let's get at the cause. And that's why these bills matter so much. Our kids are hurting, the educators are seeing them struggle every day and the parents who just don't know what to do. They want to see their kids well adjusted. The parents, everyone from infants to 18-year-olds, are worried about the uncontrolled world of social media influences and the uncontrolled world, the uncertain future that lies ahead if we don't put on the brakes now.

We need to ensure that social media is, as was envisioned, a force for good, not a place where innocent children are bombarded and lured to a dark world that could change them forever. And I often think about my two-year-old granddaughter, Sofia – very young. But if something doesn't happen at some point in her life, she'll be exposed as well. I'm glad my kids are old enough to have escaped this. Myspace was just starting, remember that? And I remember saying to them, “Don't post anything that could stop you from being able to pass a background check to be a Supreme Court justice.” I literally told them when they were about 14 years old, they just looked at me like, “Okay, mom, we get it.” Clearly, they're not Supreme Court justices, but they did get jobs, okay?

We're saying enough is enough. For Sofia and all those who are growing up in this digital world. And again, I'm so grateful for these partners who are standing up. The finish line is on the horizon. I can see it. We're this close, everybody. We can get this done. Let's give a round of applause to everyone in this room who cares enough about our kids and are going to stand up and fight for them. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. And with that, let me bring up our champion, Senator Andrew Gounardes.