To agree with Esther Ghey?

[ProfessorPeppy]

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/feb/12/i-want-to-make-things-better-esther-ghey-on-her-hopes-for-online-reform

I’m a teacher in a secondary school. I believe that the massive uptick in social problems we are experiencing in schools results from unfettered smartphone use and access to social media. School refusal, eating disorders, gender identity issues, self harm, anxiety, depression. ASD/ADHD seems to be a common underlying starting point for such vulnerabilities, but neurotypical children are also adversely affected. So many of the children I teach say things like, ‘everybody is looking at me in class, it makes me anxious’ - surely this results from a life spent on social media? Cameras on phones mean that anybody can be recorded/broadcast themselves at the click of a button, perhaps without their permission.

DS1 is 11 and about to start secondary school. He doesn’t have a phone…yet. He has an ASD/ADHD dual diagnosis and is medicated. I can clearly see that he might be vulnerable to the adverse effects of smartphone access, so I’m thinking v carefully about my next steps.

YABU: these problems have always existed for young people, and this has nothing to do with smartphones/social media.

YANBU: smartphones/social media have amplified these problems, especially for ND young people.

I really doubt her mother encouraged her to be trans. Why would she do that?

Do children in areas with middle schools get smartphones later? My guess is that many kids get a phone at 11 because of secondary school transition and if middle schools were the norm then first smart phones could wait a couple more years. I realise that some kids at middle school could need a smartphone for their bus pass but I don’t know is they are a minority of kids.

@AllProperTeaIsTheft

Just read the article. I despair. The last thing children need is being taught “mindfulness”. They need help to remove their focus from their navels, not help to increase it. It was partly this trend to gaze inward, to become obsessed with self, to be constantly monitoring how they FEEL at any given moment that can lead to children starting with the gender nonsense.

Secondary sschool teacher here and I totally agree
Do either of you actually even know what mindfulness is?!
It's nothing to do with "navel gazing" 🙄
It's a form of clearing and calming the mind, pulling your mind to the present instead of sat ruminating or overthinking - it's a great tool for anxiety and something kids would definitely benefit from, adults too!

Teens and kids just need a payg that does the basic texts and calling.

That's how it all started and should have remained.
Sounds like Brianna Gheys killer had access to all sorts sitting in her room and her parents took their eye of the ball.
Bet she had the latest phone bought by them.
Just a text and a call phone is enough.

Still sounds like a form of overthinking to me.

Still sounds like a form of overthinking to me
🤣🤣
It's literally the opposite lol

So it’s getting out and doing stuff?

So it’s getting out and doing stuff?

Well.... yes.
Learning to be present in the moment, which no screens and getting out into the fresh air and say going for a nature walk and "taking in" your surroundings would come under.

What on earth does this have to do with what her mother is speaking about in the media? This ain’t the thread to start yet another trans debate discussion. It’s really not. Can you not have a bit of empathy.

One older daughter.

I fully support her, but given that many users on this platform are likely women, they understand that girls can often be quite harsh towards one another. This kind of situation will persist until individuals recognize the importance of taking breaks from social media, internet companies eliminate content that promotes harm, and we all respond proactively to aggressive behavior online. Relying solely on legal measures won't solve the problem; it merely drives hateful content into the dark web or onto another new platform.