I’m asking for public policy ideas here. A lot of countries are enacting age verification now. But of course this is a privacy nightmare and is ripe for abuse. At the same time though, I also understand why people are concerned with how kids are using social media. These products are designed to be addictive and are known to cause body image issues and so forth. So what’s the middle ground? How can we protect kids from the harms of social media in a way that respects everyone’s privacy?
Yeah, don’t give them phones.
This is the solution in my home… Seems to work pretty well…
Past a certain age this may start to become socially isolating for the children
It’s true, at some point it becomes a necessity. I don’t know what to do about teens today, I haven’t gotten there yet.
How many generations grew up without smart phones? Basically all of them. Why did it suddenly change that they are now “socially isolated” because they don’t have smart phones?
It’s actually proven that children and teens benefit from quality over quantity of their friendships. They don’t need to have surface level relationships with everyone they meet. They just need a few really good friends they interact with in real life.
@Bazoogle @ageedizzle I’m ok with my kid interacting with his friends on his phone, I’m not ok with mindlessly watching YouTube or playing pay-to-play mobile games
So, he just needs a cell phone? Seems like they don’t need a smart phone. Regular cell phones are still an option
i.e. a “dumb phone”
I’m relatively young so I can attest to the fact that, even when I was in high-school, not having a phone would put you at a social disadvantage. Thats how kids kept in touch out of school hours and coordinated social events. It’s not ideal but thats how things work now.
I’m also young. I had smart phones ans social media in highschool. The “disadvantage” no longer exists if parents make a coordonated effort to get their kids off smart phones. You don’t need everyone, just a large enough group. I highly recommend The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
I agree that if you can get enough parents onboard with the no cell phone rule then it’s not a problem. But there’s a bit of a coordination problem there so that might not be achievable in all circumstances
There is not much in this world I care about less.
As a former teen that - due to other reasons - was socially pretty isolated, at this age acceptance from your peers is everything.