Plural • Solution #18 for Limit the Use of Social Media.
Solution #18
The manufacturers of smartphones should have a special child mode that only allows calling and moderated chat; it should not be possible to install social media until the age of 16. A highly moderated version of products can exist according to regulations.
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A.
1 day ago
Basically, that would already be technically possible. Manufacturers already offer such functions. However, parents would have to know about it and also set it up.
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O. H.Partner in Crime
7 hours ago
There are such functions, yes. But they don’t work in practice. And that’s not just because parents don’t know about them.
Jonathan Haidt and colleagues show why solutions that focus on individual families fail: they trap everyone in a collective trap. As soon as some children have social media, other parents give in so their child isn’t excluded. In a Harris poll, 54 % of parents said they allowed social media not because their child was ready, but because other families had already done so.
Moreover, the controls themselves are weak: tests by the Molly Rose Foundation showed that Instagram’s teen‑account protection features do not effectively protect children.
Therefore, a rule is needed that applies to everyone and places responsibility on the providers rather than on overwhelmed parents.
Source: Why Parental Consent Policies for Social Media Do Not Help Families