Kaplan on the Social Media Ban for Minors in Florida Florida’s new social media restrictions for children under 14 spark debate over child safety.

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A recent ruling by an appeals court now allows for restrictions to be placed on social media use for minors in Florida. This is a result of the lift on the temporary injunction against House Bill 3 (HB3) that requires children under 14 to have parental consent to use certain social media platforms and bans them from having social media accounts.

There is a significant divide in perspectives on HB3. Supporters say it protects children from harmful content online while critics argue that it violates the first amendment and interferes with parental authority. Professor Emeritus of Social Welfare at the Luskin School of Public Affairs Mark Kaplan shared his perspectives with Fox13, stating, “There is impact of social media on kids’ well-being…we’re talking about kids’ depression, depressive symptoms, suicidality and self harm.” 

This action has also resulted in a legal battle involving a federal lawsuit filed by tech industry groups NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association whose membership includes platforms like Google and Meta. This lawsuit will most likely move to federal court where the final ruling will be made on whether or not HB3 will stand.

Firearm Suicides Are Increasing Among Older Women at an Alarming Rate

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While firearm suicides are higher among older men than older women, a new study found that this method of suicide is rising sharply among women 65 and older, underscoring the need for increased mental health support for older populations.

Older men are 13 times more likely to die by firearm suicide than women, but a new study by UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Boston University School of Public Health has found that suicides by gun are increasing rapidly among older women.

Firearms were involved in nearly 40 percent of suicides among older women from 2014-2023, up from 34.9 percent in 2014, according to the study in JAMA Network Open. Women represent nearly half of all new gun owners in the United States; as female gun ownership surges across many states, these findings highlight a need to better understand the immediate and long-term consequences of firearm suicides among older women, as well as develop tailored interventions to mitigate firearm suicides among all older adults.

“Based on the most recent decade of federal data on firearm mortality, we found alarmingly high proportions of firearm suicides to all suicides among both older women and older men, and the trend among older women outpaced that of older men,” says study lead and corresponding author Ziming Xuan, professor of community health sciences at BUSPH.

The research team, which included senior author Mark Kaplan, research professor of social welfare at UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, and coauthor William Xuan, a student at Brookline High School in Brookline, Mass., analyzed firearm suicide data among older adults from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The team calculated the ratio of firearm suicides to all suicides, by sex and by state, for each year between January 2014 and December 2023.

More than 90 percent of the 63,599 individuals ages 65 and older who died by firearm suicide in the US during this decade were men. For older women, the proportion of firearm suicides to all suicides increased by approximately five percentage points, to 38.5 percent, reversing a steady decline that had begun in 1991. Even though older men had substantially higher firearm suicide rates than older women, the rates among older men remained relatively stable throughout the study period.

This disparity in firearm suicides between men and women was surprising, says Kaplan, and the findings reflect the unique risks that older gun owners face. Firearm suicide is the leading method of suicide for adults 65 and older, and as the population of older Americans continues to increase, firearm suicide rates may remain high without proper interventions to reverse these trends. A combination of physical, mental, and social factors may influence gun ownership and suicidal ideation among this age group, such as chronic illness and pain, depression, stress, loneliness, financial concerns, and greater access to guns, among other reasons.

“Firearms have become a disturbingly common method of suicide for older adults, both men and women,” Kaplan says. “When firearms are involved, older adults are less likely to survive a suicide attempt, as the chances of rescue in these situations are significantly reduced.”

Notably, the researchers found that the proportion of firearm suicides to all suicides varied substantially by state, with southern states generally encompassing the greatest proportion of suicides by gun. Alabama and Mississippi maintained the highest proportions of firearm suicides for both men (92.7 percent and 91.3 percent, respectively) and women (68.1 percent and 68 percent, respectively).

“States with stricter firearm laws, such as New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and California, tended to have fewer firearm-related suicides among older adults,” Kaplan says.

Policies and programs that address the disproportionate rates of depression and other mental health conditions among this population should remain a public health priority, the researchers say. “Healthcare providers should engage older patients experiencing depression or suicidal thoughts by inquiring about their access to firearms,” says Kaplan. “Open discussions regarding firearm safety can be a crucial step in ensuring their well-being.”

The proportion of older adults in the US is expected to grow from 17.3 percent in 2022 to 21.6 percent by 2040, with women accounting for the largest share of this increase. “As older women account for the majority of an aging population in the United States, it is crucial to provide enhanced access to mental health care for older adults, particularly in states with high levels of firearm ownership,” Xuan says.

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About UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

The UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs brings together the fields of social welfare, urban planning, and public policy to advance solutions for society’s most pressing problems. With a strong focus on community engagement, equity, and research-informed action, the School plays a central role in shaping public discourse and practice in California and beyond.

About Boston University School of Public Health

Founded in 1976, Boston University School of Public Health is one of the top ten ranked schools of public health in the world. It offers master’s- and doctoral-level education in public health. The faculty in six departments conduct policy-changing public health research around the world, with the mission of improving the health of populations—especially the disadvantaged, underserved, and vulnerable—locally and globally.

 

Kaplan on Mass Shooting in Maine

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Mark Kaplan, professor emeritus of social welfare at UCLA Luskin, joined Spectrum News 1 to discuss the recent mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, the deadliest mass shooting this year in the United States. Putting the tragedy into a larger context, Kaplan noted that in 2023 there have already been more than 600 mass shootings across the nation, “and we’re not even done with the year yet.” That number is more than double the approximately 300 mass shootings from just five years ago, he said. Kaplan also discussed the national assault weapon ban, which was allowed to expire in 2004, citing a significant decrease in mass shootings during the decade the ban was in effect. “My research shows that the more guns, the greater the risk of these incidents occurring,” Kaplan said. “There’s empirical evidence that standardizing a federal ban on assault weapons could go a long way in reducing the mayhem, the carnage.”

Watch the interview

 

Kaplan on Men’s Mental Health and Suicide

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Mark Kaplan, professor of social welfare, spoke on WJCT News’ podcast “What’s Health Got to Do With It” in an episode dedicated to mental health care for men. The podcast focused specifically on suicide rates for men in the United States, a health care story that has been an “unspoken subject,” according to the show’s host. Suicide for men in the U.S. is an “underappreciated major public health crisis,” said Kaplan, whose work has focused on using population-wide data to understand suicide risk factors among veterans, seniors and other vulnerable populations. Kaplan noted that men die of suicide at a rate four times higher than women, but, he said, “When you look at age specific groups — once you get into older adulthood — the ratio is up, 12 to one.” Citing Centers for Disease Control data, Kaplan said that death by suicide is “strikingly a male phenomena” and that a distinguishing factor is their use of firearms around the world.

Listen to the podcast

 

Kaplan Calls for More Resources for Survivors of School Shootings

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Mark Kaplan, professor of social welfare, co-wrote an opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times about the effects of repeat exposure to school shootings on youth and ways to help them. In K-12 schools alone, 338,000 children have been exposed to gun violence since 1999, the authors write. These adverse childhood experiences can increase the likelihood of mental health issues, chronic diseases, addiction and suicidal thoughts. The authors stressed the importance of providing support to communities, noting that implementing gun reform is a very slow process. They suggested providing schoolwide services for post-traumatic stress disorder after shootings; access to primary care, family therapy and grief support; and more trauma-informed practices. Writing days after a deadly shooting at Michigan State University, the authors concluded that students “deserve a comprehensive, science-informed, thoughtful gun violence prevention plan that puts them first and works to change the structures that can lead to shootings like the one at MSU.”

Read the op-ed

 

Kaplan on Challenges in Implementing Gun Control

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Mark Kaplan, professor of social welfare, spoke to Yahoo News about deadly shootings happening in California and the rest of the country. The government spends only a small amount of money on firearm violence research, Kaplan said. “Quite often with prevention, we don’t know what’s been prevented. That’s the problem. Because we don’t really have good research,” he said. Kaplan also said strong gun laws in places such as California are undercut by illegal trafficking across state borders. “The idea of piecing together a patchwork of 50 states and coming up with a national policy is almost impossible in this country.  … The problem is state lines, and how do we minimize the flow of firearms into areas that have very strict firearm laws.” The Half Moon Bay Review also cited Kaplan’s research into the relationship between social inequity and gun violence, including his finding that “there is a strong correlation between homicide per million and income inequality.”

Read the Yahoo News article
Read the Half Moon Bay Review commentary

Kaplan on High Rate of Suicide Among White Men

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Mark Kaplan, professor of social welfare, spoke to KERA News about alarmingly high rates of suicide from gun violence in North Texas cities. Over half of the suicides reported in Collin Country, Tarrant County and Dallas County involved a gun. While white men make up about 20% of Collin County’s population, they accounted for 70% of suicides. Kaplan, who researches suicide risk, said men have a higher likelihood of dying by suicide than women. Major life events can serve as a catalyst for a person to commit suicide, he said. Often, suicides are not planned but are the culmination of stressful events paired with mental health issues, leading to a “death of despair.” “The presence of a gun, either in a household or lots of guns in the community, increases the likelihood of a gun death, either homicide, suicide or unintentional,” Kaplan said.

Read the article