CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) – Protecting children from social media has been a topic of debate ever since smartphones became readily available to the public.
Just recently, officials in the United Kingdom announced they will be banning a range of social media apps for children under the age of 16. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it’s to protect kids from harmful content and excessive screen time.
Other countries have also pushed forward initiatives against social media usage, including our neighbor, Canada, which has some wondering if the U.S. should adopt something similar.
“I think they should definitely start having conversations about it. I’m not saying ‘Yes, we need to put in a ban or limit,’ but we need to be having conversations around ‘What does social media look like for our youth? Is it healthy? Is it unhealthy? What are positive ways to use it? What are negative ways to use it?’ But if we’re not going to look at something like limitations, how can we provide more education to our youth around safe social media use and online usage?” said Dr. Janice Ruesler, director of education and special initiatives for the Gibson Center for Behavioral Change.
While there is strong support for this type of restriction, there are skeptics who say this isn’t the real issue, and what should be focused on is the way in which algorithms distribute content to adolescents.
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