Your thoughts on banning social media for under 16s

[OnNaturesCourse]

A topic I've been hearing a lot about on the news lately and it's got me thinking.

How do you feel about a possible ban on social media for under 16s?

(I know it has been said it won't be happening in the UK now but I found the topic thought provoking...)

YABU - it's a silly idea
YANBU - it's NOT a silly idea.

I agree with PP that the law doesn't have to work perfectly or be strictly enforced for it to work well enough. Just like the under-age drinking laws - nobody is going to be put in jail because their 15 year old had a cider at the family bbq or snuck out with friends and had a WKD, but having the law there means that most people are very strict re teen drinking and most under-16s drink very infrequently because there just aren't the opportunities and little pressure from friends, who are all in the same boat.

If the law banned SM, then hopefully schools would feel they had no choice but to ban smartphones, which would make parents' role much easier. All parents could then use the law as an excuse not to let them have it and there wouldn't be the social pressure of being left out if you don't have it.

So yes, of course some teens will borrow their parents'/older siblings phones to take a look, and some bad parents will turn a blind eye on a frequent basis, but they would be in the minority and for all the good parents who want to limit use and currently feel they are facing an uphill battle, they will have the support to be able to say - no you can't have it, it's against the law, school has banned it and none of your friends are allowed it either. Much easier to limit use, which can only be a good thing. Even adults can't moderate their use or the impact, let alone poor impressionable teens whose brains are still developing.

If the law banned SM,

Which is a hell of a stretch from "banning it for under 16s".

Are we talking about the same thing here ?

Prehaps I am uneducated but to ban social media (Facebook, Snapchat etc) does not mean to take away the devices that can be used for alternative apps such as homework/bus passes/calls etc. In my mind it's simply a case of not having the access to the social media.

An example could be something in place on Google Play or Apple Store whereby children under the age of 16 couldn't download the apps without parental consent? Then also some sort of restrictions on the actual sign up for accounts on social media too so accessing them via Chrome etc is also less likely.

My DC will has a small laptop for homework purposes but they can't download anything onto it without parental permission and a one off code, and every Internet page they access has age restrictions plus all activity gets pinged to my linked phone within seconds through Family Link.

I know you can set age restriction on phone networks as well so it blocks certain content, would it be possible for networks to recognise social media sites as "adult"?

There seems to be a bunch of adults simply throwing their hands up saying "what can we do, it's done" in regards to this instead of looking for workarounds. It wouldn't be easy and, like everything, there would be parents and kids that don't do it but surely if it gets the majority off social media then it's good? I mean I know there are under 18s drinking, under 16s having sex etc but atleast the laws are very clear about it and i would say the majority go with it or atleast have something that makes them stop and think about it...instead of them being given the attitude from adults of "ah whatever, you'll find a way to do it if you want so why bother deterring you".

I think it would be a good idea - if only 99.9% of the average 8 year olds wouldn't be able to get around it!

There are lots of parent apps you can put on kids tech and Apple provide it for free, you just have to add the phone into a parent group and set it up before handing over the phone.

I can stop my kids [12 & 15] from downloading apps. In order to download something, DH or I have to initiate it with my apple account password. We had the same process with a subscription piece of software we used previously.
I can give them start and end times for phone use for every day of the week.
I can give them access to some apps all the time.
I can set up some contacts so they can always call us, GPs, Police etc.
I can restrict content against adult content
I can set daily limits for every app they have. In practice this means if they want to use an app that's timed out, they click on it, it sends me an alert and I can say yes, choose additional time option or No.
I can monitor their usage [older teen now has more relaxed controls with some apps like YouTube] and if it's getting out of hand, can restore limits.

I can even enable a setting that reminds them not to put their face too close to their phone. Drives them bonkers 😂

So we don't allow social media at all. Have discovered Pinterest has evolved into less of scrapbook craft site and more into vacuous films of pouting influencers so that's currently on a 15 mins limit per day 😀

So it's perfectly possible to control this stuff if you can be arsed in the first place. It feels like many parents just want to make it someone else's problem rather than being the tough guy.

Facial age recognition has been successfully and robustly tested in the UK on self service machines. Supermarkets are just waiting on government to pass legislation to allow digital ID and/or facial age recognition to be an accepted form of ID for buying alcohol.

How exactly would they do this???

The problem is the majority of accounts are set by the users stating they are over 16.

So it won't stop them setting it up with a fake age.

The only true way to control something like this is behavioural.

So I would use the smoking ban. That was 99% behavioural and the odd fine. It was the societal change of attitude that makes it possible.

If only all parents were as switched on as you, then we wouldn’t need to be looking at banning it.
Unfortunately, they aren’t.
I will be doing the same as you once mine has a phone (which I will delay for as long as possible!)

@TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams that's a great approach.

Unfortunately what I see is the kids set up accounts on their friends unprotected devices. They really do have amazing problem solving skills.

I do have the Google family app and it is very helpful. I find the questions helpful that pop up when the children is coming up to a birthday. It gives parents an opportunity to think about it as opposed to being put on the spot.

I am lucky I work with a great IT team and they regularly give me a steer☺️

YANBU

https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/28/australia_children_social_media_ban

Agree with the idea, not sure how it can be enforced unless social media companies are required to take certain measures to try to enforce it. The one I think has most possibilities is that unless social media companies take certain steps, they are deemed in law to be publishers.

I notice that Musk is starting to rewrite US laws to his liking. I can't really see him accepting limitations with Twitter.

I have an 11 (y7) & 14yo. They had tablets for games in the junior school years with tight parental controls. They were given mobile phones Christmas y6 so they were accoustomed to them before y7. They were among the last of their peers. Many got them younger as the only way to socialise legally during lockdowns- a depressing reality of that specific age group.

Ds1 isn't socially motivated which makes life simpler. He likes factual documentary content on youtube. I have a decent idea of what the algorithms offer him because he mainly watches on a large compter monitor and I can see the content when I come in the room.

DS2 uses whatsapp to communicate with close friends. He had those two terms in the relative safety of primary school (at least there was a parents' Bat Signal if things were going awry) to learn that large chats are a waste of time. I do monitor it, and fortunately at this point in time he has sensible taste in friends. Again from watching youtube on the main TV, I have a decent idea of what the algorithms put his way.

I have aways talked to them and encouraged them to me if they see anything that makes them uncomfortable (especially if they did something daft)

I've talked to them about why apps like Tiktok and Snapchat are problematic and why I won't authorise them. They are happy with youtube and whatsapp with light monitoring.

It's not foolproof, but phones and social media are integral parts of society and aren't going to be put back in the bottle. Childhood is about gradually learning and building up the skills of adulthood. Keeping them in a bubble until a magical age (like 16) and hoping they've automatically matured past some pitfalls doesn't necessarily equip them with the skills that they need.

Phones are essential tools of independence. I can't pretend it's 1995 and that phone boxes are plentiful and a 30p bus fare will cover their needs. Society evolved. Access to google maps was invaluable for DS1 last year when the bus route was diverted through areas he doesn't know when trees were blocking roads during a storm.

DS1 is more technically minded and savvy than me. I'm better working with his good will than encouraging secrecy!

I'm glad younger parents are getting more switched on. Delaying and managing access as long as is viable is sensible, but I don't think abstract bans to absolve parents from parenting is the answer. Knee-jerk reactions often cause more problems than they solve.

I wish they'd ban it for pensioners, my mother's a bloody nightmare.

I think it's a good idea. I assume the sm companies will have to introduce more stringent checks and perhaps like what was proposed In Aus will be fined A LOT of money if caught letting underage users sign up.

Good idea but completely impossible, so pointless talking about it.

Brilliant idea!

😂

I like the idea, but have no idea how it would be enforced.

I think most children now are far to tech savvy to work their way around this

I would rather companies have might tighter controls places on them with extremely high fines should they break them

Too late for Gen Z (and Bonny Blue/Lily). But we owe it to the next gen not to destroy them.

Ridiculous idea. Utterly unworkable and completely stupid. Same as if you tried to ban people talking to each other. By the way, people talking to you is Super bad. They may bully, they may persecute. They may feed you false information & encourage you to do bad things. They may encourage you to obsess about things that make you unhappy. Groups of people amplify these bad things when they interact with you. SM did not invent any of those problems.

Oh, and by the way, if you're a social minority, SM is great because you can reach out & find other people like you who experience the world like you do. Ban SM and you ban all that potential support.

Does anyone have a simple easy definition of what is and what isn't social media? Is WhatsApp SM, should it be banned for < 16s ?

Absolutely agree with it and it is possible to enforce
Betting websites you have to upload id passports or driving license same can be done for social media. Also makes people directly accountable for what they post on fb or X

Totally pointless imo. Children will find a work around, or their parents will open an account for them in their name, or a fake name.