I can get behind that, but that’s not typically the way it works currently. Typically laws restrict children from the use or purchase of certain harmful substances. Same thing with access to pornography. With the data on what SM does to mental health in children it makes no sense restrict those other things but not this.
If a kid wants to smoke or drink, they’ll smoke or drink. The laws that exist won’t really stop that, so they mostly punish innocent people. If I want a 6-pack of beer and I trust my kid to get it for me, I can’t just give them cash and send them down to the corner store to get it. I used to be able to do that, but now I can’t, and yet kids still have access to alcohol and tobacco.
Social media is similar. If kids want to be on social media, they’ll find a way. They’ll falsify evidence, use VPNs, or get someone else to sign up for them. It largely hurts the innocent who now have to show ID to sign up, potentially violating their privacy in case the site doesn’t properly secure or delete the data.
In both cases, the real solution is w/ poor parenting. The way you stop a kid from smoking, drinking, or getting addicted to social media is the same: you build trust, explain the risks, and teach them how to interact with it responsibly through being a good example. Legislative solutions aren’t solutions, they’re feel-good measures that end up doing more harm than good IMO.
I can get behind that, but that’s not typically the way it works currently. Typically laws restrict children from the use or purchase of certain harmful substances. Same thing with access to pornography. With the data on what SM does to mental health in children it makes no sense restrict those other things but not this.
Agreed, but not in the way you intended.
If a kid wants to smoke or drink, they’ll smoke or drink. The laws that exist won’t really stop that, so they mostly punish innocent people. If I want a 6-pack of beer and I trust my kid to get it for me, I can’t just give them cash and send them down to the corner store to get it. I used to be able to do that, but now I can’t, and yet kids still have access to alcohol and tobacco.
Social media is similar. If kids want to be on social media, they’ll find a way. They’ll falsify evidence, use VPNs, or get someone else to sign up for them. It largely hurts the innocent who now have to show ID to sign up, potentially violating their privacy in case the site doesn’t properly secure or delete the data.
In both cases, the real solution is w/ poor parenting. The way you stop a kid from smoking, drinking, or getting addicted to social media is the same: you build trust, explain the risks, and teach them how to interact with it responsibly through being a good example. Legislative solutions aren’t solutions, they’re feel-good measures that end up doing more harm than good IMO.