08/26/2026
New Hampshire is reportedly set to receive $200 million from Meta, Facebook’s parent company, as part of a settlement.
At Clear Reflection Counseling Associates, we’ve spent years working with children, adolescents, and families, and we’ve had a front-row seat to the impact that social media can have on young people’s mental health.
Anxiety. Depression. Social isolation. Bullying. Body image and self-esteem issues. Constant comparison. Sleep disruption. Kids struggling to disconnect from a world that follows them everywhere through a screen.
Social media certainly isn’t responsible for every mental health challenge facing young people, and it isn’t going anywhere. But I think it’s becoming increasingly difficult to deny that the way these platforms are designed and used has had real consequences for children and adolescents.
So when I see that New Hampshire is receiving $200 million from Meta, one of my first questions is:
How much of that money will be reinvested directly into child and adolescent mental health?
What an opportunity this could be to expand access to counseling, strengthen school and community-based mental health programs, support higher levels of behavioral health care, invest in prevention and education, and help families access services before a child reaches a crisis point.
If even a portion of this settlement is connected to the impact these platforms have had on young people, it seems only appropriate that a meaningful portion of the money finds its way back to the kids and families dealing with those effects every day.
I hope that becomes part of the conversation about what New Hampshire does with these funds.
$200 million can do a tremendous amount of good. Let’s make sure some of it reaches the young people who need it.
New Hampshire is set to receive hundreds of millions of dollars from Facebook's parent company after the state joined dozens of others in claiming that the company's products hurt young users.