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

I’m sure Labour would be out out on their arses we are not North Korea.

I know it’s in to control peoples thoughts but you’d hope entirely banning VPNs and such would be a step too far. Though maybe they want to hand the next vote to the other side.

Does anyone know what could happen with VPNs?

Could they be banned if Labour went full control

Not thinking of dc but adults

Eugh roblox hate the thing. I’d rather my kid sat and played Fortnite very unMumsnetty of me however 😅

Yes, it's mental. Anyone who thinks it's a good idea doesn't think but, don't worry, your betters will think for you.

I mean Roblox should be banned outright, but isn't on the list.

This is another concern.

China's policies are not to be emulated.

I had to check that then I was like no sure not 25 years ago 😅

Msn message a pinnacle of my tween and teen life 1999. So aol chatrooms and all that LOTS of random chat room around then. Bebo 2005, my space 2003. You tube 2005.

Logging out of the internet and back on to change your ip address to get around a chatroom ban 😂 talking to strangers online.

and now I feel really old as a 34 year old who grew up on all of them 😂 despite knowing clearly if I was a tween they had been out ages.

My motarola rza going hello moto as its ring tone oh my 😂😂

I agree it is good, I came across a TikTok of a 7 year old girl’s “beauty regime”! And how about there is more of a crackdown on how some of the content is allowed to be there, not just piling the pressure onto parents and children to avoid it. Why are there so many vile things on the web that children can access. The ban is great but it’s not stopping awful things being created and accessible

I support it and hope it is quickly enforced. As parents we can say no to social media, but what happens when they go to school and all their friends are on snapchat at break/lunch, they are still going to have access to it. I hope schools will now ensure its not being accessed in school time and it supports us as parents to enforce them not accessing it.

@ArabellaScottive Nc from fwr due to discussing my children.

Im normally am in 100 % agreement with you.

I am also aware of the other arguments against what this ban entails.

However in my professional life I have dealt with far too many safeguarding incidents over the years directly linked to phones and SM.

And it’s always the most vulnerable children who are affected.

And you and I have discussed at length how many children have been brainwashed by trans influencers on YouTube.

This is one area where, when I weigh up all the available sides to the debate, I’m in favour of a ban. I see it like cigarettes.

None of it existed 25 years ago.

First case I was aware of was a send child in y3 who had seen a dog fight on a mobile phone. Was very excited by it. Had a mobile phone, the old Nokia ones which had basic crap video. That was 20 years ago.

I completely agree with the ban and welcome it. Obviously there will be logistical challenges, and there will be certain individuals (both kids and adults/parents) who will willfully try to find a way around it but it's one of many steps in the right direction.

You can’t though, because you don’t have enough knowledge to develop a decent common sense for this

We can use our common sense.

By definition, it will require all SM users to prove they're over 16, do we trust these companies to keep our identity safe?

The track record with companies like Meta has been horrendous.

There are issues that need to be dealt with, for sure. I would say that sm bullying is often symptomatic and part of other wider issues. Children who are parented well with proper boundaries learn how to navigate and manage a healthy usage of sm and screens etc. Which is something everyone needs to learn; tech isn't going to disappear any time soon.

SM is a tool. It is or was a great way to reach children with positive and useful messaging, access support, information, etc, as well as a Wild west with many risks.

The issue is we don’t know about the long term impacts or safe/ unsafe levels of social media use for children. Parents can’t parent “properly” because they don’t have the information.

my gran was given her first cigarette at 11 by her father. He didn’t know it was bad for her. They were controlled by tobacco company propaganda back then, as we are tech companies now.

Youtube is the fucker, tbh. Kids use it for learning all sorts of stuff. It certainly needs to have parental controls on it and limits set, but this is part of what I mean by heavy handed ban having adverse effects.

It's about time tbh !
If parents were actually parenting teenagers children toddlers wouldn't be on any kind of gadget !
It's bad parenting all round using a screen as a babysitting tool !!
I might get flamed for this but I don't actually give a shit !
If your so engrossed in your on phone to interact with your children your lazy !!!
I hate seeing small tiny toddlers 18 months old on phones it's insanity!!!
Kids should not be using screens or social media full stop !
Everywhere I go everyone has their head in their phone !! Or their filming or taking pictures what the fuck has happened to the world honestly !

I do think this is the right decision overall. However there will need to be a big culture shift.

I will be interested to know which apps/platforms are included.

As a teacher, WhatsApp is the app that has the highest impact on children in my school. They add each other to large groups full of strangers where really inappropriate things are shared and linked. They share videos of each other in compromising situations and bullying is rife.

I agree that YouTube can be risky but there is a lot of useful educational content on there too - presumably if it is banned for under 16s, I would not be able to use it in the classroom? I am old enough to have taught before screens in every classroom but it had become a really useful resource in many lessons (explaining scientific concepts, exploring historical people/events, showing art from around the world etc). Lots of what we used to pay for is now freely available to educators (necessary in this time of ever reducing school budgets).

Wonder if they have realised that a ton of free learning materials are hosted on youtube? mainly gcse prep, tons of maths , english and computer science stuff.
I get all the others, but a blanket ban in youtube is problematic (i’m all for a “youtube school” with only verified teaching materials!)

the issue is that it’s causing a ridiculous amount of wasted time in schools dealing with fall outs from snap chat and much worse and also certainly causing extra issues for the nhs via mental health issues.

I agree not all sm is bad for teens. And not all screen time is bad.

At the same time it’s clear that physical health can be affected by screens.

when the NHS is free the state will be looking at ways to help make people healthier to reduce load on the nhs.

and many children have been injured or dies as a result of SM.

100%

YABU.

Children's screen usage needs strict controls and parental monitoring.

A ban like this wont work and will have other downsides, not just for children.

Youve got parents who grew up online and on phone and on SM now.

they don’t know any different.

the tech companies need to be held accountable in the same way as cigarette companies etc

The parents that aren't currently censoring the internet properly for their kids will probably just claim that the government is now going to do everything for them, so they don't need to do anything, which just discourages people taking an active role in parenting their kids further.

Teachers are already complaining that kids are ending up in school without being toilet trained and not being able to use a knife and fork, fed constantly on a diet of junk food. This is just going to encourage more hands off parenting.

I suppose it is the (very) thin end of the wedge but at some point, maybe the State can claim it will do a better job of bringing up kids than parents.