A ban won’t shield kids from social media
The article discusses the challenges of protecting children from the negative impacts of social media. It highlights the increasing concern over adolescent mental health issues linked to social media use and the potential effectiveness of a ban on access for those under 16. However, it argues that a comprehensive approach involving parents, companies, and regulators is necessary for meaningful change.
- ▪A significant percentage of children spend more than three hours a day on social media, raising concerns about mental health.
- ▪The Canadian Pediatric Society has identified enough red flags regarding children's mental health to warrant action.
- ▪Bans on social media for children have been implemented in some regions, but evasion of these bans is common.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Open this photo in gallery:The TikTok download screen in October, 2023. It would be wonderful if we could take childhood back from the social-media giants with a simple ban, but sadly it's not that simple.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian PressShareSave for laterPlease log in to bookmark this story.Log InCreate Free AccountChildren and teens have been left largely to their own devices, in a literal sense, in the era of social media. That era has proven to be perilous, and the perils – though long in plain sight – seem to have snuck up on Canadians, as they have nearly everywhere. We have all been living through a decades-long experiment, as the U.S. National Institutes of Health puts it, in which children have been the unwitting participants.To state the obvious, it’s not going well.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Globe and Mail.
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