There’s a decent legal argument for it - as a general rule, minors are not allowed to sign “lifetime” contracts.

(Obviously, they do, but under quite a bit of oversight.)

I think that this stuff is coming from isolation, echo chambers which drive the weird to madness, and access by predators.

It also may hinder adolescent drug access.

Teenagers have always been at risk of doing stupid things, but maybe we can get it back to excessive speeding and diving off cliffs, etc

I have said for years that any parent giving their children a smartphone and/or unfettered access to the internet needs to have their head examined.

Sorry if that offends anyone here but I stand by that statement.

I don't know how we stop it now that Pandora's box has been opened. There will always be bad parents and their will always be 12-year-olds who click the "are you over 21" box.

The internet is the greatest and the worst invention of mankind.

It’s not the tool per se. For example, even if phones were banned, they would just move to computers or tablets or whatever internet tool was still available to them.

Prohibit the behavior, not the tool.

Will never work

I have kids age 5, 8 and 10

The 8 and 10 year old now have iPads but they are VERY locked down to what we determine is safe and appropriate and they are issued out for short periods as a reward then we get them back. Think of a military armory where a rifle is issued out then given back. No internet access and no communication to just anyone.

As far as smart phones go, they will get some kind of dumb or text only phone when the time comes. Right now they are homeschooled so they aren't away from the home for long periods without us anyway.

The 5 year old still has a LeapFrog which is appropriate and safe for her age.

There are a couple of neighborhood kids that were given smartphones at a young age and they walk around on them like zombies, addicted. It's really scary to watch.

Too many parents don't "parent" and would never monitor what their children do on computers and phones. The kids are entitled to their privacy don't ya know. My son once told me that the desk in his room was private and I had no business going through it. I asked him who's house his desk was in.

They are dependents. Parents get to decide how much privacy to honor. Privacy, like respect, should be earned.

Stupid people doing stupid things is not new. If you don't believe me get a copy of "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity" by Carlo M. Cipolla and then understand that he wrote it in 1976, long before the internet, smartphones or social media.

We have always had stupid people. Social media just gives them a larger audience.

quote:

Originally posted by Broadside:
We have always had stupid people. Social media just gives them a larger audience.

You must see the difference, though.

Saying stupid things to a couple of your stupid buddies in a field out behind the barn in 1976 is light years away from the influence saying stupid things in some dark web chatroom that reaches millions of stupid people has today.

I don't know how we do it, but something needs done.

If we don't get a handle on this shit, it is going to destroy us.

More power to the nanny state, huh? Maybe, just maybe, parents should actually parent. Quit trying to be their kids best friend, quit letting them run amok. Actually be a parent and make some rules and enforce those rules tears and tantrums and slammed doors be damned. Monitor your kids and their devices. The cats out of the bag. Any teenager with half a brain will find a way to bypass whatever wall gets built in order to access the forbidden fruit of social media. Kinda like how there’s zero issue for teens getting booze and weed and porn. Only dumb phones until 18? That 18 year old senior will do brisk business moving burners to their underage classmates. 21? Really? We’re going to further confuse the line for adulthood. Why not 25 when the brain is more fully formed?

Impossible to implement

When I was in Japan three years ago, the common dating apps could not be used unless a photo of your ID was uploaded and matched to your profile photos. Positive ID required.

This is probably the only way to implement age restrictions on social media.

Couldn't be implemented, let alone enforced.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:


The internet is the greatest and the worst invention of mankind.

^^^^^^^ This!!! Sadly.
One of my biggest regrets was giving my sons unlimited access to video games. No more sports, bike riding, fishing,etc.
They are all fine young men but I should have handled it differently. Besides, they beat the crap out of me when I tried to play their games with them. I just couldn't do Madden football!

Didn’t we try prohibition back in the day? I don’t think it worked very well.

Instead, monitor and have the unlock codes until they get older. If needed, take possession for a period of time. To get their attention, you have to restrict something meaningful.

bring back the Motorola StarTac flip phone

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
You must see the difference, though.

No, I do not. Stupid is stupid and you can't legislate stupidity. Attempting to do so implies that that stupid people are not responsible for their stupid actions. That's liberal thinking.