As social media has grown it has become harder to restrict and protect young people from seeing violent and dangerous content, research found children as young as 10 are seeing violence on their screens (39%) and that 72% of children aged 10-16 believe they cannot control the content on their screens. We should be able to control what we see on social media. This kind of content is distressing for so many young users.
I could see why it may seem better to remove under 16s entirely from online platforms but removing them isn’t changing the dangerous atmosphere or removing disturbing content, it places a safety net. It’s like when you take Soother – it doesn’t heal your sore throat, it just makes you feel better temporarily, and a ban would feel like a safety net for those creating dangerous content.
I don’t think a blanket ban is what we want or need to help us feel safe online. We need action on monitoring and protection of content being uploaded online and we need proper legislation to prevent social media from being a lawless space.
Social media was created to be a place where you express yourself freely and connect with like-minded individuals. Now it is a place of fear, violence and discrimination.
Ellen, age 17, is one of Girlguiding‘s Advocate panel members, where she acts as a spokesperson for girls, including Girlguiding’s 300,000 young members
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