AIBU to think banning social media for under-16s is a good idea?

I'm on the fence, I can see both sides.

I use TikTok and Snapchat with my DC/SC who largely won't be affected by this anyhow - it's fun, keeps us connected when we're not all in the same place and we have a laugh. But social media has never caused any issues for us in anyway over the years and maybe we've been lucky. Undoubtedly it has its downsides.

As others have said though, it won't stop the parents who allow their kids on YouTube now will it? My DC watches YouTube but he does it on my iPad. How are they going to police that 👀 It would be up to parents, and some are not going to stop their kids. I already police what he watches but I don't see the harm in letting him watch football skills videos on YouTube!

Our generation are responsible for phone zombies and fucking up out children’s lives with social media- we were the ones who made and allowed the algorithms.

i don’t understand the point about parental autonomy- parents are still free to break the law aren’t they?

Parents should ban it for under-16s - no doubt. It should be highly discouraged, like smoking. There should be no access in schools.

But I worry very much HOW a ban by the GOVERNMENT will be implemented. Will all over-16's now have to provide ID online? That will basically ban ME because no way am I providing ID. Wil there be fines? This government has already proven to act more like a police state than a democracy, all in the name of "good".

I agree with it 100% I have a 13 year old. There is a phone ban in schools, it's just changed from voluntary to mandatory

I agree its a good idea in principle however so is assisted dieing but look at the bill they tried to make law.
I fear that this new bill will be the same with it being put before government by December and starmer already saying a bad bill is better than no bill (im paraphrasing his actual words were "it might not be perfect") and they are going further than any other country including Australia.
I also note that he says that we dont not make laws just because some people break them yet his own MPs say the opposite about banning men from womens single sex spaces so yet again it shows that the labour government only move on ideological grounds

On balance it's a positive thing. There will be a lot of angry loud internet people who say it isn't. Not all of those will be genuine opinions from people actually based in the UK.

A good idea implemented in an imperfect way (which this will be, as its a pretty new idea) is much better than doing nothing.

The social contract has torn apart in the last 10-15 years - cinema/theatre etiquette, general civic mindedness, pride in place, patience etc. And young people being able to engage strangers in small talk, answer phone calls. Basic life stuff. It's been accelerated by Covid, but phones were the engine of that change and it's encouraging to see the shift from behaviour to research to policy.

Exactly.
A ban is daft.
Those that allow their children to use social media will still allow them. It won't make a difference.

There will always be a work work around... And why does the government have to enforce it, when the parents can stop it at source?

Personally think it’s out of order. It’s removing the autonomy from parents to make parental decisions about their own children. It should be up to me to decide whether my 14 and 15 year old DD’s use social media. As it goes, I have never allowed TikTok and I monitor Instagram and Snapchat - they also have private accounts. They are not allowed to access apps without my permission through parental settings on Apple. I also implement screen time. A blanket ban is ludicrous at that age. I understand for under 13s but not 13-15 year olds who communicate with one another largely through these apps.

Someone on Radio 4 today prog said that there is evidence that DCs who spend a lot of time on SM are happier than those that don’t DUH !!! Maybe the ones who aren’t on SM have no friends or are being bullied online ?? Can’t believe she said that

This ^^ are parents also going to step up and model that they too won’t be on social media? We’ve all seen parents ‘out’ with their kids - the parents are glued to their phone while not engaging one iota with the kids.

Exactly, so parents can make a choice of whether their child would be ok at watch a 12/15 film at 10 - but I think most people would agree allowing unrestricted access to 18+ films, bottles of vodka and cigarettes to under 10s would be madness.

At the moment, with no restrictions that’s pretty much what the internet is for kids, even if you’re watching a cartoon on YouTube, some pretty shocking stuff is literally a couple of clicks away.

The devil is in the detail and I’m not really sure how it will all work. However as a parent of a year 6 child who’s whole class seem to be allowed unlimited access to phones/social media I am relieved. I agree it will just help take the pressure off that it is the norm for children to have access to this stuff.

And parents can do the same with social media. Show their children it, show what happens, how to deal with trolls etc.

I think its a good thing. The consultation had 116,000 responses and 90% of responses said parents wanted a ban. Thats pretty substantial isn't it?

We all know that social media has been proven time and time again to be harmful. And the tech giants have had long enough to put precautions in place but have refused to do so. That's what everyone's ignoring - they were given the opportunity to prevent a ban but they chose not to.

My 11yo isn't on anything yet (thankfully) so this helps enormously because it gets rid of the peer pressure to join in.

Kids should be kids, so encouraging them to not be online all the time will be a great thing for their social skills, their mental health, their ability to learn by themselves...

See also smoking indoors - people around you would think you were a total dick and tell you so, if you did that now! But not so long ago it was totally normal. The legislation brought about the social change

That is a really good point. When I was a kid it was totally normal for parents to smoke around their children indoors, in the car etc. Now it is seen as completely unacceptable.

I think is a good thing. DS 11 currently shows no interest in that stuff but it will be far easier to say no now. Let's face it, apps like Snapchat are for morons and paedos. Kids should not be on there.

Well pretty much every parent I know has shown 12/15 films before their child is that age.
18 films are a bit different because it will depend on why it's an 18 but yes I have let my daughter watch some before she turned 18.
Alcohol.....well I don't drink but going by many threads on Mumsnet it seems fairly normal to let older teens drink alcohol. It depends on circumstances. Wine at Christmas dinner is different to a six pack to take to a party. Personally I wouldn't do the 6 pack but wine at dinner.... probably would allow it.
Smoking I think is crap and no one should do it.

I think it can only be done at the moment by forcing all the adult users to identify themselves and prove their age, and then prove it's them every time they access one of the sites. There are some pretty huge implications for this.

Well parents and schools can still teach kids about safe internet use before they reach 16. Just as they educate them about sex, alcohol use, dangers of drugs etc?

You could say the same about alcohol in a way, it’s a parental choice whether to introduce the odd shandy at a young age or completely ban it as evil meaning the second kids turn 18 they’re downing bottles of vodka with no concept of how to handle it.

With a platform like YouTube they need to have enforced adult and kids sections, with different restrictions - it’s no different to classifying and 18+ horror film as unsuitable for kids.

The trouble is online platforms have developed so quickly nobody has put safeguards in place, probably some adults would even prefer a version where their algorithm is curated for only the content they want to see and filters out topics they’ll find upsetting for whatever reason.

Do you feel the same about over 18 films, alcohol and tobacco products?

It’s not going to include WhatsApp, which I would argue is one of the most damaging platforms for young people. How exactly are they going to enforce my child watching stupid minecraft videos on YouTube?

I’m generally for a ban up to the age of about 14, but I worry that children won’t be taught safe usage of the internet. This is ‘cliff edge’ parenting, where things are completely banned until they are 16 and then they just go mad on the internet because they have no idea how to be sensible. My 12 year old has been taught to ignore/report trolls. Would a 16 year old who has never been allowed to online game know what to do?