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Kate Hawkesby: Social media for kids... I don't think so

Author
Kate Hawkesby,
Publish Date
Mon, 24 May 2021, 11:52AM
(Photo / File)
(Photo / File)

Kate Hawkesby: Social media for kids... I don't think so

Author
Kate Hawkesby,
Publish Date
Mon, 24 May 2021, 11:52AM

This idea of Facebook’s to launch an Instagram for kids is rightly so getting push back. It’s a crazy idea.

And I say that as a mother of 5 children all of whom have grown up with social media, and have come to find it thoroughly dissatisfying. Many of them, and their mates too.. have deleted multiple social media apps, they find it pointless, anxiety provoking, and tedious in equal measure. But the real concern for younger children is the constant pull to be online from an even younger age.

The constant pull to check in on what everyone else is doing, which always looks way more glamorous than what you’re doing. Which triggers a negative response, a feeling of disillusionment about your own existence. “Why are we the only people not away for school holidays?” my daughter would sometimes ask back when Instagram ruled her life and everyone posted pics of themselves sitting on a beach somewhere while she was bored witless at home. It’s pressure that kids – and parents, don’t need.

We grew up without knowing what every single person we knew was doing everyday and without pictures of what they all had for lunch. We didn’t have that constant comparison of what they were wearing or saying or doing. And on top of the comparison nightmare – which as we know, is the thief of joy.. social media is also very cause-driven these days. Often with things so complex half the people posting about them don’t even understand most of what they’re posting.

Palestine and Israel posts are rife at the moment, before that it was protesting Asian hate crimes, before that Black Lives Matter, before that Me Too.. it’s a constant stress of what major political or social issue they need to sound aware of next. And that’s before we even get to cyber bullying and kids abilities to cope with that.

Aggrieved by Facebook’s plans to aim this youth Instagram at 6 to 12 year olds, a group of US attorneys general wrote to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg asking him to drop this dopey idea. They said they were concerned “about social media's effects on the physical and emotional well-being of children, the potential for increased cyberbullying, possible vulnerability to online predators, and what they called Facebook's "chequered record" in protecting children on its platforms.”

I mean if that’s not enough reason to put the brakes on I don’t know what is. Kids don’t need to get hooked online any earlier than they already are. They certainly don’t need social media at age 6. And you can’t tell me that Facebook’s responding to a need.. or a gap in the market. Show me the 6 year old crying out for some social media? Most of them don’t even have phones at that age.

But as we know, not much stops Facebook if they think a profit is to be made. So I doubt they’re likely to press pause on this madness. Which leaves it up to parents, yet again, to be the bad guys and put the brakes on yet more stupidity from the tech giants, trying to push stuff onto kids who don't need it.

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