For societies with long histories of protecting children with laws and regulations, isn\u2019t it surprising that nothing is being done to similarly shield them from the various and proven dangers of social media? We need to institute the same kinds of age limits and protections for technology and web use as we\u2019ve done for decades in almost every other sphere.<\/p>\n
Think about it. We don\u2019t let young people drive, drink, smoke, get married, join the Army, get a tattoo or vote until we feel they\u2019re old enough to handle it.<\/p>\n
But we put some of the most powerful technologies ever known to humankind in the hands of a 13-year-old, and then stand back in amazement when online bullying<\/a> and body dysmorphia<\/a> issues go off the charts, when self-harm<\/a> and suicide rates<\/a> explode, when rape culture<\/a> is inculcated within a generation of young children steeped in porn.<\/p>\n For parents with teenage kids, there is a growing, horrifying realization that over the last 10 years, we\u2019ve knowingly surrendered our offspring as guinea pigs to a grand scheme from tech companies focused on \u201cmaximizing engagement\u201d for the sake of profit, with little or no regard to the consequences.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n We parents were so in love with cool tech ourselves that we thought it hip and helpful and safe to get Johnny and Jane a phone, with a similar disregard for what damage this could do to their self-esteem and healthy development. The first little emoji text we got from them seemed cute. We didn\u2019t realize it was going to turn into 100, then 500, then 1,000 \u2014 a day.<\/p>\n Forgive us, Lord, for we know not what we do.<\/p>\n Try putting your <\/em>phone down. Go on, do it now. Count how long you can go before you can\u2019t resist picking it up again. How long did you manage? Not long, right? You (like most of us) are a tech addict, and you\u2019re an adult, with willpower and the ability to defer gratification that your<\/em> upbringing drilled into you. Imagine what it\u2019s like for a 16-year-old whose whole life has been a never-ending carousel of instant gratification.<\/p>\n And we\u2019re surprised when our kids look washed out in the morning before school, after a night of Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and a whole bunch of apps your kids know about but you\u2019ve never heard of. School that now involves even more time staring at a screen.<\/p>\n Having an age limit \u2014 we suggest 18 for phones and social media \u2014 will begin the process of readjusting our relationship with technology toward our better angels. Just as we teach young people to drive a car with driving lessons, classwork, a highway code guide and a test, let\u2019s teach them how to use social media in a way that won\u2019t harm them. Let\u2019s introduce a \u201csocial media user license\u201d that requires passing a test and can be revoked if they don\u2019t follow the rules of the \u201cinformation superhighway.\u201d<\/p>\n Some people think social media is now so pervasive that it\u2019s impossible to put the genie back in the bottle. But we disagree. In fact, we feel that a fatalistic acceptance of what\u2019s going on is morally unconscionable. Remember, all it takes for evil to flourish is for good people to do nothing.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve proved we can introduce rules and regulations to ensure the wise use of powerful technologies. We\u2019ve done it before, with the aforementioned cars, with radiography and nuclear energy \u2014 in fact, with all dual-purpose technologies we\u2019ve created. What\u2019s different about social media? Indeed, in some countries, legislation is beginning to emerge. The U.K., as an example, recently introduced proposed laws that would fine, or even shut down, social media platforms that fail to protect children from harm online.<\/p>\n Some people think that even if we wanted to put age limits in place we couldn\u2019t enforce them, logistically. Of course we could \u2014 with the biometric security systems now commonplace on our phones (fingerprint readers, facial recognition, etc.) and with the algorithms that routinely customize feeds for billions of active users per day, or with any variety of existing technical solutions. It is simply a question of having the will. Then the way will emerge.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t want to ban social media. When used responsibly, it\u2019s a wonderful thing. Particularly now, during the pandemic, social media has been a lifeline against isolation and loneliness. Who can even imagine how much worse sheltering in place and quarantine would have been without technology that allowed us to connect with each other at the exact time we were forced apart? In just a matter of weeks, we simultaneously became more separated \u2014 physically \u2014 and connected \u2014 digitally \u2014 than ever before in history.<\/p>\n But social media has grown so vast and so powerful that we\u2019re now past the point where we can continue to justify na\u00efvet\u00e9 and youthful exuberance. It\u2019s time to admit that the inventors, company leaders and consumers \u2014 yes, us, too \u2014 of these new technologies all know what we are doing. And worse, what we\u2019re doing to our children\u2019s minds.<\/p>\n The final objection to our argument is that, even if there were an age limit in place, kids would find a way around it. This is obviously true. Some kids would find a way to access the tech and apps they see adults using, just as some kids drink and smoke before they\u2019re of the legal age. But if we believed that because some people break laws, there\u2019s no point in having them, anarchy would await. Imperfect compliance with the law is no argument for its absence.<\/p>\n Young people are not mature enough to be exposed to the bottomless scroll of FOMO, YOLO, trolling, abuse, lunacy and unadulterated filth that is just another day on social media. There\u2019s so much evidence of the harm that is being done to kids by it, if you care to look. San Diego State University professor of psychology Jean Twenge\u2019s \u201ciGen<\/a>\u201d has a lot of the details \u2014 if you dare to look.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a parental instinct to protect your children, so let\u2019s act now and set an age limit to spare them from social media\u2019s dark side until they\u2019re mature enough to make responsible choices.<\/p>\nA license to scroll<\/h2>\n
Keeping a good from becoming evil<\/h2>\n
\n