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

[LizardLore]

Just being announced now - social media banned for under-16s.

My instinct is it’s great, but I am interested in other views. My kids are very small so not an issue here yet.

YABU - the ban is bad
YANBU - the ban is good

Totally agree. I bought fags and booze at 14/15 easily because I also looked over 18.

I'm not sure how this works. I don't really care in terms of my kids because one's 18 and never had much interest in it and the nearly-15-year-old has no interest, other than youtube. The latter is the only one that concerns me as he had GCSEs next year, and revision videos can be a big help. I assume it'll easily be worked around though.

This is a good thing, Like others, not sure how it is enforced"

If you dont know how it will be enforced, why are you supporting it?

Your level of thinking has caused so much damage to society.

Adult sites are still easily available via a VPN which you can download in a couple of minutes. The age verification has had very little effect.

Kids talk and will just tell each other how to get around it.

When my DS was about 13, he was illegally watching premier league football matches streamed from abroad via "dodgy" links that were being passed around the school yard.

Something being illegal doesn't stop kids. Lots have sex under 16, lots smoke, lots take drugs.

I fear that pushing social media "underground" may actually make things worse. As someone else said, we really don't want our kids to be passing around links to get onto the dark web!

no they don't.

This. You Tube is not all bad. This is why a ban is a ridiculous idea. Instead of giving responsibility to parents to teach them how to use it safely, we are now taking away the good parts of social media. Mine use You Tube for watching clips of ABRSM exam music pieces or engineering type posts for example.

It was needed. I’d go further and not allow under 5s on phones or tablets at all. You can tell by children’s speech, development and behaviour in early years which ones are spending too much time on screens.

My kids are slightly too old for this (16, and nearly 20)
Whilst I think its a good idea i also think the platforms have some responsibility about potentially harmful content thats being shown.

Ive previously had an ED and I notice a lot of (what I consider,) pro ana stuff on MN Instagram, or "skinny tok" and because I looked at a few items my grid was flooded with it, I had to make a conscious effort to start looking at other stuff to reverse the algorithm.... and i do actually folliw a few people who are calling it out .... but if I had been in the grips of an ED it would have been very unhealthy and unhelpful. I wouldnt gave been able to deal with it at 17, or 22, or whatever.
Similarly if there are posts with suicide ideology or self harm, being 16+ wont make a person immune to being influenced by those

A couple of people have mentioned "Bluesky".
I have never even heard of it.

I'm against it. Teach your children social media literacy, check their phones. I mean banning you tube? Snapchat has allowed my child to connect and chat with her friends in a really positive way. I know their passcode, I check her phone, and the agreement was until she was 16 I would. She doesn't add strangers to anything, only close friends, people that she knows. We have open conversations about the internet and social media literacy. Parents need to parent, and we all need to adjust to a world where it exists, so how do you use it safely.

Kids will find a way, and those that want to seek out stuff that its not appropriate will do so regardless. I would rather investment into literacy and education about how to be on phone and social media than this ban.

It is. But in a few clicks you can easily end up on some dodgy stuff. For example, there's a lot of fan art of favourite kids characters. A lot of it is good! just NOT for kids. YouTube does have a filter of sorts and creators sometimes do try to warn you if it's not for kids, but nothing beats parental supervision.

My level of thinking? What damage has it done? More damage than having toxic websites encouraging bullying or eating disorders or violence?

social media is toxic. Nobody gains anything from TikTok or instagram.

I mean thats not true.. I've gained plenty from those sites. Books to read, cooking ideas, support for my own mental health and other issues. You cannot sweep social media with one wide brush to say nothing good comes from it. I do know bad things come from it, but it's nuanced, as opposed to this opinion.

Because the bar isn't likely to target your online communications for ransomware or steal your I.D.

Arw you happy with your entire digital footprint being accessable to almost anyone?

Do you have the faintest idea about online security or how your data can be abused by criminals?

That people don’t think there is anything wrong with YouTube is proof they don’t understand what is on YouTube.

It’s the state that concerns me. Will they have and use all linked data?

Are your algorithms those that a 12 year old sees? No. That’s the whole bloody point. It’s not being banned for you.

It's apparently the left wing alternative to Twitter, ever since Elon Musk turned it into a cesspit.

I don't think they have announced a definitive list of what will/won't be banned yet. They have just listed some of the best known platforms that will be among the ones that are banned.

Personally, I think banning specific sites is the wrong approach. We will surely just end up with whack-a-mole - new platforms constantly emerging and then having to be added to the list of banned sites?

It would have been better to define the specific features which are deemed to be harmful, and to have banned those instead - either for everyone, where there is an argument to do so, or just for children if necessary.

Of course there’s bad stuff. There’s also useful content for dc eg science or music exams as below

I’ve seen pictures of genitalia on there - something just pops up when your child is watching kids YouTube. Just because you haven’t seen it, it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

This argument is bogus. The statistics show around 50% of users who previously had an account are still on there. That means 50% aren’t. It also doesn’t say how many young people who didn’t previously have social media have signed up. That is progress. Australia is a great testing ground because with every “failure” we learn something new and can implement different things. The ban is as much about a change in culture as it is the mechanics of how it works.

So many people want the perfect to be the enemy of the good. Pretty much all laws are updated over time. It used to be entirely legal to drive without a seatbelt. First it was made illegal for drivers, then for front seat passengers, now for all passengers. All the same arguments were made, how will we enforce it, it should be a personal choice, people will get round it. Now we have a culture where you wear a seatbelt, and modern vehicles make it really difficult not to. This isn’t just about what happens in 2027, it’s about what will be happening by 2037.

Fear not! That is fake news. No list has been announced as yet.😊

I agree. My DS extensively used YouTube videos to supplement his education, especially when he got a "bad" teacher, so he could catch up with things he didn't understand in the classroom by watching different explanations etc. He particularly liked a number of Mathematic teachers on You Tube, some even provided links to their website for free downloadable worksheets etc.

At university, it was also invaluable for him, as he started during the covid year so had no "in person" teaching and no opportunities to ask the lecturer/tutor any questions, so he just carried on using You Tube (and others) to supplement the course/lecture notes. The Uni library was also closed for the first few months, so he couldn't even borrow books to broaden his knowledge and work things out etc.

None of that did any harm, he got his First in Maths after it all and even now jokes that it was Youtube who got the First, not him as he'd used it so much over secondary school years and University.

It's entirely down to the person and parental support/control. We knew our DS was on youtube and other SM platforms a lot, but we kept an eye on him, monitored his device usage/history, etc. (which he was aware of).

If you use it the same as watching TV you just (supervise your children) watch the show they want to watch and then when it's finished you switch it off 🤷
No need to be "clicking" on something else.

This. Parent your kids.

Also; you don’t need a ban to stop your children using social media.