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Today: Social media is harming our kids, ban it! 30 years ago: Video games are harming our kids, ban it! 60 years ago: Rock and roll is harming our kids, ban

by Aloisius 11mo ago

Today: Social media is harming our kids, ban it! 30 years ago: Video games are harming our kids, ban it! 60 years ago: Rock and roll is harming our kids, ban it! There is little evidence to support social media causes harm. Even correlations are weak. As a large study on the subject put it, the association of well-being with regularly eating potatoes was nearly as negative as the association with [social media] use. This looks like yet another moral panic.

loloquwowndueo 11mo ago
Dude no, sorry, those things have nothing on Roblox, it’s the most toxic damaging thing ever.
hollerith 11mo ago
>the association of well-being with regularly eating potatoes was nearly as negative as the association with [social media] use. Maybe regularly eating potatoes is a lot worse for a person that most of us currently realize. (They do have an extremely high glycemic index and high levels of oxalic acid.)
- Aloisius 11mo ago
  Potatoes are harming the kids, ban it? Seriously though, the correlation is just weak - far to weak to actually draw conclusions from let alone ban it.
  - josephg 11mo ago
    Australia and Denmark are on track to ban social media for kids. I hope scientists are watching - it’ll be fascinating to get some actual data on what happens.
rgregg 11mo ago
I mean.. you do you, but the data seems pretty clear. Social media use among children significantly impacts mental health in a negative way, in well designed study after study. There's a good summary out of the HHS (at least until they take it down): https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/youth-mental-health/social-media/index.html https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/... You have any pointers to well designed studies that show it's as innocent as a video game or rock and roll?
- Aloisius 11mo ago
  That Surgeon General's Advisory also warns against video games. As did the Surgeon General in 1980 who warned kids were addicted to video games body and soul.
  - crummy 11mo ago
    wow, you're not kidding. https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/10/us/around-the-nation-surgeon-general-sees-danger-in-video-games.html https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/10/us/around-the-nation-surg...
- squigz 11mo ago
  > The types of use and content children and adolescents are exposed to pose mental health concerns. Children and adolescents who spend more than 3 hours a day on social media face double the risk of mental health problems including experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety.3 This is concerning as a recent survey showed that teenagers spend an average of 3.5 hours a day on social media.4 And when asked about the impact of social media on their body image, 46% of adolescents aged 13-17 said social media makes them feel worse.5 Are those kids spending more than 3 hours a day already suffering from depression/anxiety? What would those adolescents say about the impact of their classmates/school on their body image? > We have gaps in our full understanding of the mental health impacts posed by social media but at this point cannot conclude it is sufficiently safe for children and adolescents. We must better understand the answers to key questions, such as, which types of content are most harmful and what factors can protect young people from the negative effects of social media. This seems to recognize a lot more nuance than "the data seems pretty clear" (To say nothing of what even "social media" is. Is HN social media?)
_zagj 11mo ago
30 years ago: leaded gasoline and lead-containing paint is harming our kids.
blitzar 11mo ago
today: kids should be out doing drugs and having sex, not sitting on social media all day
- mmmlinux 11mo ago
  some low birthrate countries are basically saying that already...

loloquwowndueo 11mo ago

Dude no, sorry, those things have nothing on Roblox, it’s the most toxic damaging thing ever.

hollerith 11mo ago

>the association of well-being with regularly eating potatoes was nearly as negative as the association with [social media] use. Maybe regularly eating potatoes is a lot worse for a person that most of us currently realize. (They do have an extremely high glycemic index and high levels of oxalic acid.)

Aloisius 11mo ago
Potatoes are harming the kids, ban it? Seriously though, the correlation is just weak - far to weak to actually draw conclusions from let alone ban it.
- josephg 11mo ago
  Australia and Denmark are on track to ban social media for kids. I hope scientists are watching - it’ll be fascinating to get some actual data on what happens.

rgregg 11mo ago

I mean.. you do you, but the data seems pretty clear. Social media use among children significantly impacts mental health in a negative way, in well designed study after study. There's a good summary out of the HHS (at least until they take it down): https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/youth-mental-health/social-media/index.html https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/... You have any pointers to well designed studies that show it's as innocent as a video game or rock and roll?

Aloisius 11mo ago
That Surgeon General's Advisory also warns against video games. As did the Surgeon General in 1980 who warned kids were addicted to video games body and soul.
- crummy 11mo ago
  wow, you're not kidding. https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/10/us/around-the-nation-surgeon-general-sees-danger-in-video-games.html https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/10/us/around-the-nation-surg...
squigz 11mo ago
> The types of use and content children and adolescents are exposed to pose mental health concerns. Children and adolescents who spend more than 3 hours a day on social media face double the risk of mental health problems including experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety.3 This is concerning as a recent survey showed that teenagers spend an average of 3.5 hours a day on social media.4 And when asked about the impact of social media on their body image, 46% of adolescents aged 13-17 said social media makes them feel worse.5 Are those kids spending more than 3 hours a day already suffering from depression/anxiety? What would those adolescents say about the impact of their classmates/school on their body image? > We have gaps in our full understanding of the mental health impacts posed by social media but at this point cannot conclude it is sufficiently safe for children and adolescents. We must better understand the answers to key questions, such as, which types of content are most harmful and what factors can protect young people from the negative effects of social media. This seems to recognize a lot more nuance than "the data seems pretty clear" (To say nothing of what even "social media" is. Is HN social media?)

_zagj 11mo ago

30 years ago: leaded gasoline and lead-containing paint is harming our kids.

blitzar 11mo ago

today: kids should be out doing drugs and having sex, not sitting on social media all day

mmmlinux 11mo ago
some low birthrate countries are basically saying that already...