Local Counselor React to Potential TikTok Ban

Erie native Mark Campbell's work has taken him all over the world.

"I ended up developing a company," Campbell said. "We got involved in aerospace and nuclear fossil fuel."

He spent 10 years living in China, becoming fluent in Mandarin and learning extensively about Chinese culture. After a decade of business overseas, Campbell came home to Erie for something different.

"I became a mental health counselor," Campbell said. "In fact, I told my young patients: I'm the oldest therapist alive in the area."

After 10 years of co-owning Campbell Counseling alongside his wife, Janet, his diverse background in both China and the U.S. has brought a lot of thought to the potential TikTok ban in the States.

"There's transparency over here," Campbell said. "What concerns Congress [in] the relationship with TikTok, or the central government of China, [it's] ability to influence content. Whereas over here, you can control that, but over there, you can't control that."

From his counseling side, Campbell says he now mostly works with high schoolers, who are having issues with social media.

"I have young people that are doing eight hours a day, every day on TikTok," Campbell said. "I have people come in and they say, 'Mark, I don't know how to talk. I'm very awkward.'"

Concerns of misinformation, comparison and screen time are just a few things Campbell says are making it difficult for young people to live in today's world.

"If you're a parent and you think it's acceptable for your 10 [or] 11-year-old to access anything on TikTok, then you have to make that decision as a parent," Campbell said. "Otherwise, parents have to be involved and you have to regulate what your children are watching,"