Published on 12, July, 2020
I see that goverment are seriously thinking of banning smart phones and social media for under 16's.
Do you think its a good idea?
What are the positives and negatives of such a ban?
Would it work?
Would people binge on their 16th birthday?
How would verification work, what form should or would it take?
I feel mixed personally I think the stuff people can see from such a young age is shocking, or for someone of any age for that matter! But there are positives too, if you live somewhere rural and can be a few miles away from where your friends live or you have close family a way away from you, then social media must be great.
Personally I'm quite anti-social and curmudgeonly and dont' use it or a smart phone, I don't do groups etc, but if I feel mixed about it then I think young people must be really confused, and probably angry and frightened too.
I don't think the "rise" in mental health issues in young people are soley down to social media, when I worked as a young peoples counsellor it was at a shocking level then, the numbers of sucidal thoughts, self harm, eating disorders, bullyiing, abuse both in and out of the home, services were barely coping and that was long before austerity cuts took most services away. I think that issues with mental health are coming home to roost rather than increasing, I think they're just being recognised for the massive issue they are and have been for decades because they can no longer be ignored. I think banning social media is seen as a quick fix, another way for people to stick their heads in the sand in the hope that everything will get better.
I think it’s a good idea. But only if there is effective age verification. It may protect children from many form of abuse also sexual abuse. Many teens under 16 get unwanted invitations to chat and awful messages with videos and photos that may traumatise them. Sending such content itself is abuse. Plus there is a lot of aggression in the social media. I don’t use FB TikTok etc but from other channels I know more or less what’s going on there. Some group of teens beats their peer and posts the video of it in social media, just an example of many such awful behaviors. I remember that when I was a kid, there were also aggressive kids (I was their prey, constantly in survival mode) but I’m not sure if it was so bad. I think it’s getting worse with the social media. Or maybe just my impression.