Setting Limits and Staying Safe: Teens Sound Off on Being 'Social-Network Smart'

Bella Garcia’s social media home page is a veritable menagerie of birds, beasts, and bugs. In one post, the teen’s pet lizard, Cholula, chows down on a dandelion; in another, Dakota, her German Shepherd, leaps to catch a snowball.

But while the posts keep the Houston 16-year-old connected with friends who live far away, her social media experience hasn’t always been positive. When dealing with health problems in recent years, the teen spent hours each day on social media, often feeling frustrated and left out.

“It was affecting my productivity and my sleep, and I had some depressive episodes,”...