Earlier on May 28th, Governor Kathy Hochul met with advocates from the Mental Health Association in New York State (MHANYS) to highlight her ongoing investments in mental health resources for young New Yorkers, including expanded access to innovative youth and teen Mental Health First Aid training programs. The Governor reiterated her commitment to enacting nation-leading legislation addressing online safety and the harmful impacts of social media in the final weeks of the 2024 State Legislative Session.

B-ROLL of the Governor meeting with youth mental health advocates is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format.

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

AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available.

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

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

I want to thank Glenn Liebman and everyone who's part of MHANYS, the Mental Health Association of New York State for welcoming here on May 28th, but also for just being incredible champions and advocates of all of our citizens, but particularly now, our main focus has really been on youth mental health. And so, you're the ones who are dealing with the practitioners, you're going into the classrooms, you're dealing with his hands on. And I, as the Governor of the State of New York, I'm so grateful that we have people like you that are out there who care so deeply about our young people. So, let's give a round of applause to everyone who is part of this great organization.

You know, you really have been at the front of the line in terms of focusing public attention on these issues, and they fell on deaf ears for such a long time. There was a stigma associated with talking about mental health and families were embarrassed or ashamed to try to get assistance in schools – it wasn't their place. And so, we're working really hard to change the whole dynamic about youth mental health.

And that's why I have been so focused, not just the billion dollars, but really convening the first ever Youth Mental Health Summit at the Javits Center. We had thousands of people who came – people who are professionals, we had young people, we had parents, educators, everybody who's part of that whole ecosystem to make sure that our children can develop in a healthy way.

And we're looking also at the barriers to that. That's why we did our youth listening sessions around the State of New York. Launched it in the Bronx about a year ago. I've been all over the five boroughs. I was just in Buffalo a couple of days ago. We've done many events with the legislators who sponsored legislation that I think is critically important. If we can't stand up and help our children get out of a crisis, then we have failed them. And I, as the Governor of the State of New York, don't accept failure as an option.

So, this is the urgency that I'm bringing to this cause. Why I am investing a lot of my time, energy and political capital to say, “We can't solve everything right now, but there's one area where I know it can make a real difference.” And this is the effects of the addictive, and ‘addictive’ is the word I'm focusing on, addictive algorithms that are intended to bombard our young people when they scroll social media, and to draw them in deeper and make it harder for them to put down their device or to interact at a personal level with others.

So, the companies are responsible for this. This is driven by profit. They also know that there's negative effects on children. They don't have to listen to the Surgeon General who warned about the effects of this a year ago. They just have to see what's happening in their own families. I guarantee the workers who work for these companies, they all see what's happening. The parents see what's happening. The teachers see what's happening. And this Legislature is working so hard. We're working in partnership with our sponsors of legislation to say you cannot continue the practice of bombarding young people with these absolutely addictive algorithms.

I cannot overstate the powerful draw they have on our young people. I have seen them. I've sat with them. And I cannot get out of my mind the young person who said to me, “You have to save us from ourselves. We don't know how to stop.” Well, it's not their fault. They don't know how to stop because there's an intentional strategy to draw them in and get them addicted to this. That's our battle.

But also, the rights of parents. Parents don't know what's going on during the night hours when the children are supposed to be in bed. They're young people who need their rest. They desperately need their rest to be able to cope with the next day and all the resiliency that's built up by getting a good night's sleep. Parents should have the right to be able to on their own say, “Enough is enough. I want my children to get rest and 24 hours a day and to be able to shut off from midnight till 6 a.m.” That seems very basic. I don't understand why there could ever be opposition to that as well.

So, I'm here as the first mom Governor of New York. I've raised kids. I know the stress that they're under. I see what's happening to younger members of my family, nieces and nephews, and what is happening to the children of friends of ours. So, it's real. It is out there. So, what we did was talk to, as I mentioned, the young people themselves, the companies, the people who are the professionals, which is what we're doing here today, talking to parents, building a coalition of support to say, we will stand up for our children. We can save them, and it starts with legislation that we hope that the Legislature will get through over the next couple of weeks.