Why do people want teens on social media??

[theprincessthepea]

I have a teen.

Today I told her that by the time the ban comes into affect when she is 16, it won’t make a difference to her life. But it will affect my toddler, and I’m happy that he will be growing up during a time where social media will be banned for children and young teens.

What I realised is that there are so many parents against the ban.

I see it every day. I was the last parent (out of my DDs friendship group of 6 girls) to give her a smart phone and allow her on social media - mainly because I was aware of what it’s like, and I witnessed my friend abuse MSN and Bebo back in the day and end up with older guys and pervs - that’s another story. But I remember a parent (DDs friends mum) telling me “I’ve set up a Snapchat for my daughter” (there were in year 5).
I asked her “why”
she said “I was told it’s good for them to socialise”

WTF!? AIBU for thinking that a lot of the work will go into convincing the public and parents that social media is bad. Just like we had to convince the public that smoking is bad.

If the amount of exploitation, low self esteem, online bullying, literally having an online account that is borderline only fans when you are a minor, whilst mum and dad think you study and love school (me and my daughter are super open about socials, she might have an account I don’t know about - but this is the point - us parents don’t get to protect our kids when they are in a virtual world that could be harmful).

Anyways that’s my rant. I’m all for the ban. Good luck with them implementing it. But I think we will be in a better place 10 years later (if the multiple crisis don’t get to us first).

Im also all for educational videos - but I don’t think this falls under this. As I do tell my DD to find an appropriate video when she’s stuck for revision.

You’re wrong. There are many things that come under the new age restrictions on Reddit that are not pornography.

Not all 18+ content is porn, just as not all 18+
rated movies are pornography.

Fair enough, then - I stand corrected; I hardly ever go on Reddit.

But surely that's still a case of material/topics that have been specifically designated as adults only - not the entire (and presumably not the vast majority of the) platform?

If I want to buy alcohol (or, bizarrely, 0% alcohol drinks) at Tesco, I have to show proof or be clearly over 18; but some of these proposals - which may or may not come to pass - sound more like me being made to prove I'm over 18 to buy bread and milk - just because the store also happens to sell alcohol.

I did see a good post recently saying great - ban social media but let’s invest in Youth clubs, discos, libraries, sports clubs, cinemas, community centres….

There is less for kids to do. Especially that 13-16 age group. Found it sad when the girl interviewed and asked what she would do with her newfound time said ‘stare at a wall’.

I fully support this ban but I also think other areas of youth mental health need to be looked at and invested in. This is a start.

I grew up without social media - we socialised outside the home and met up with friends etc. My son's teen years were touched by the introduction of social media, but it did not affect his mixing with friends outside the home. My grandchildren are banned from social media but are allowed a certain time each day for gaming and videos. They'd spend all day on it if unregulated by their parents. I think a lot of the mental health issues which seem to keep many youngsters at home from school/work arise from searching on the net and absorbing a log of the rubbish that is out there. Let's see how a ban works out. Can't be worse than what is happening now.

I was depressed as a teen and highly anxious, there was no social media when I was young. Turns out it was undiagnosed ND. There were many students that struggled with school and had lots of time off - this isn't a new thing, it's just seen a lot more now due to social media. It's not a bad thing that we are more aware and know this may be due to undiagnosed ND and tips to help. The bad thing is we haven't invested in services that could support ND or depressed teens.

Of course social media can be bad for teens, but it's also allowed many to be creative, to have fun - yes it's different to how we used to be, but that doesn't mean it's worse. As teens my friends were at the park drinking alchopops, sneaking out at sleepover etc. how is that any better? Are we imagining teens are going to start playing with Lego and go roller skating? Regulate the companies to provide appropriate content don't ban it.

My children are a bit younger than teens and don't have it, but I think adults saying 'go read a book' and 'get outside like I did' are being meanbto teens. You wouldn't like it if people took away your creative outlet, how you interacted with friends etc.

I think a lot of the mental health issues which seem to keep many youngsters at home from school/work arise from searching on the net and absorbing a log of the rubbish that is out there. Let's see how a ban works out.

I agree with PP there have alway been mental health issues in teens - as the school environment and the heavy exam pressure and fewer options if fail exams probably contribute - as do other things - I think it's easier to blame social media though I don't think it entirely blame free either.

Will be interesting to see what effect Australia or UK band have in years to come.

Hi there,

We thought users on this thread might be interested to know that we're hosting an AMA with Baroness Beeban Kidron tomorrow. She's been one of the most influential campaigners behind efforts to regulate tech platforms and strengthen protections for children online, and her new book USERS: How Big Tech Took Control and How to Fight Back is published this week.

If you'd like to ask a question, you can post on the AMA thread here.

Thanks,
MNHQ

I don't want mine on social media but i do want them to have access to youtube.

Whichever side you land on, one thing I haven't seen mentioned in this thread: a lot of the apps teens use now have AI chatbots built in. Snapchat's My AI sits at the top of the chat list, for example, and many kids never go looking for it.
So even families who are very cautious about social media may find their child is talking to a chatbot without anyone having decided that. What's helped in our house is just asking, without making it a big deal: "Does that app have an AI in it? What have you asked it?" It tells you a lot more than checking settings.

Most parents of teens will have used social media for years, so they feel it is their teens right- however these things move on and it is likely it is used in different ways by teens than their parents- also it is a way of not having grumpy/moping teens about the place- similar arguments were made in my own youth about TV. Social media platforms are huge multi million dollar businesses whose main aim is to make consumers of everyone, so I think there are some legitimate points on both sides of the argument.
A teen is neck deep in hormones, subject choices, exams and university choices- I think throwing social media into the mix is just too much and accounts for many of the mental health problems young people have these days, so i think a ban is probably a reasonable idea overall.