Social media and kids

[ageratum1]

I think there is no doubt now that social media is very addictive and very harmful to children and teenagers
If the Chinese government can keep Chinese children off it, why can't our government keep under 18s off?

I think some government action is needed because SM is actually really difficult for parents to restrict if it is freely available. For example, the minimum age restrictions actually being enforced by platforms would be great (as they hopefully will be with the Online Safety Act). Just as newsagents etc enforce the minimum age for buying cigarettes and this makes it easier for parents to say ‘you can’t smoke’.

We now know a lot more about the harms of SM for kids (the drop in mental well-being, particularly for girls, is now very clear) so it’s our responsibility to act. Just as when cigarettes were invented, people didn’t know they caused cancer. When that was discovered the government banned them for kids.

@Lieger apparently cigarettes aren't actually banned for children. It's illegal to buy cigarettes at under 18 and under 16s can have them confiscated by police if smoking in public - but apparently there is no actual age limit on smoking them !
THIS DOES NOT MEAN I THINK CHILDREN SHOULD BE SMOKING THEM 😂😂😂
Edit : actually I may be wrong. All the information online about smoking is very wishy washy and just says about purchasing age. It doesn't seem to say anywhere actual age you can smoke 🤷
Personally I can't understand why anyone wants to smoke...... revolting habit.

ItsHitTheFanNow
Do you have a link to the evidence of harm?
ah come on- just go onto something like TikTok and within minutes there’s someone in a bikini pouting at a camera. YouTube gives you horror movie ads sometimes randomly in the middle of a eg gaming video and Snapchat can have someone post something mean without worrying that it’s traceable