4 ms·

Yes let's take away everyone's privacy because parents can't be bothered to parent.

by _vqpz 10mo ago

epolanski 10mo ago
I doubt that parenting can do much here. I've read that after elementary school parents have an incredibly small impact on their children's development, peers and their environment (which includes virtual one), has virtually all of the impact on your children's development.
- jack_tripper 10mo ago
  How so? Parents and schools can collectively decide to take away the smartphones of preschoolers if keeping them safe and focused was the main priority. Like how else is a preschooler gonna get a smartphone without adult money and support? Last time I checked preschoolers can't open a checking account and a credit card. This bs of government forcing everyone in the country to have to doxx themselves just so preschoolers can't access social media(which they will anyway since rebellious children are very resourceful on cheating the system made by tech illiterate adults), is like if prehistoric humanity were to stop using fire just because the village idiot burned his house down.
  - floren 10mo ago
    > Parents and schools can collectively decide to take away the smartphones of preschoolers if keeping them safe and focused was the main priority Collective action? Like some sort of communist? No THANK you!
  - ForHackernews 10mo ago
    If only there were some kind of collective larger than a family or a school that could decide to take away social media from impressionable children...
    - jack_tripper 10mo ago
      Yes, and how would the government ban social media apps from preschoolers without forcing everyone to doxx themselves to prove age? Your sarcastic jab doesn't add any new questions or answers to this very important issue, since everyone can agree social media is bad for kids, but also we don't want to lose internet anonymity just because schools and parents can't raise kids without giving them a smartphone in hand since birth.
      - ForHackernews 10mo ago
        They've already done it, mate. You can go read about the Australian law. They are putting the burden of proof on the tech companies: "You have heaps of data on your users, you know who are young teens because you target them for marketing. Ban underage kids or we fine you."
- iowemoretohim 10mo ago
  Do children buy devices and pay for internet service?
  - epolanski 10mo ago
    Good luck denying your 12 year olds a smartphone when every single of their friends has one and they are cut off from everything.
    - s777 10mo ago
      My parents gave me really shitty smartphones that were barely powerful enough to do important things but was an awful experience for Instagram/games/etc until I bought a better one with my own money (similar specs to Pinephone Pro)
    - jolmg 10mo ago
      No luck necessary. Not like you need permission from your child to deny them things. You can get a dumb phone since having a phone (not necessarily smart) is a good idea. There's also parental controls on at least Android smartphones that let you control the apps and sites they get access to.
  - ben_w 10mo ago
    Pocket money is a thing, PAYG is a thing, gift cards are a thing. Skipping lunch and saving up the dinner money to spend on an ex-demo Performa 5200 and a 56k modem is how I got online back in the late 90s.
    - SubmarineClub 10mo ago
      What the heck is ‘dinner money’? Your parents couldn’t be arsed to cook even a single meal for you?
      - ben_w 10mo ago
        https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/dinner-money https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/dinner-...
retsibsi 10mo ago
Let's suppose the cause really is as simple as "parents can't be bothered to parent". By default, this will continue to be the case. And realistically we're not going to fix it by telling bad parents to please start being good parents. So what do you actually want to do? I'm not saying it's this or nothing, but if you don't have an alternative policy that might actually help, I don't take much comfort in the idea that the kids who are damaged will have _parents_ who totally deserved it.
- lapcat 10mo ago
  There are some alternative policies, for example, banning smartphones in schools. This doesn't completely solve the problem, of course, but at least it limits social media use while the children are under direct supervision of the government. A more extreme policy would be to treat smartphones themselves the same way we treat alcohol and cigarettes, enforcing an age minimum at the point of purchase. Of course the giant tech corporations would fly into rage over this suggestion and lobby heavily against it.

Yes let's take away everyone's privacy because parents can't be bothered to parent.

by _vqpz 10mo ago

Yes let's take away everyone's privacy because parents can't be bothered to parent.

I doubt that parenting can do much here. I've read that after elementary school parents have an incredibly small impact on their children's development, peers and their environment (which includes virtual one), has virtually all of the impact on your children's development.

jack_tripper 10mo ago
How so? Parents and schools can collectively decide to take away the smartphones of preschoolers if keeping them safe and focused was the main priority. Like how else is a preschooler gonna get a smartphone without adult money and support? Last time I checked preschoolers can't open a checking account and a credit card. This bs of government forcing everyone in the country to have to doxx themselves just so preschoolers can't access social media(which they will anyway since rebellious children are very resourceful on cheating the system made by tech illiterate adults), is like if prehistoric humanity were to stop using fire just because the village idiot burned his house down.
- floren 10mo ago
  > Parents and schools can collectively decide to take away the smartphones of preschoolers if keeping them safe and focused was the main priority Collective action? Like some sort of communist? No THANK you!
- ForHackernews 10mo ago
  If only there were some kind of collective larger than a family or a school that could decide to take away social media from impressionable children...
  - jack_tripper 10mo ago
    Yes, and how would the government ban social media apps from preschoolers without forcing everyone to doxx themselves to prove age? Your sarcastic jab doesn't add any new questions or answers to this very important issue, since everyone can agree social media is bad for kids, but also we don't want to lose internet anonymity just because schools and parents can't raise kids without giving them a smartphone in hand since birth.
    - ForHackernews 10mo ago
      They've already done it, mate. You can go read about the Australian law. They are putting the burden of proof on the tech companies: "You have heaps of data on your users, you know who are young teens because you target them for marketing. Ban underage kids or we fine you."
iowemoretohim 10mo ago
Do children buy devices and pay for internet service?
- epolanski 10mo ago
  Good luck denying your 12 year olds a smartphone when every single of their friends has one and they are cut off from everything.
  - s777 10mo ago
    My parents gave me really shitty smartphones that were barely powerful enough to do important things but was an awful experience for Instagram/games/etc until I bought a better one with my own money (similar specs to Pinephone Pro)
  - jolmg 10mo ago
    No luck necessary. Not like you need permission from your child to deny them things. You can get a dumb phone since having a phone (not necessarily smart) is a good idea. There's also parental controls on at least Android smartphones that let you control the apps and sites they get access to.
- ben_w 10mo ago
  Pocket money is a thing, PAYG is a thing, gift cards are a thing. Skipping lunch and saving up the dinner money to spend on an ex-demo Performa 5200 and a 56k modem is how I got online back in the late 90s.
  - SubmarineClub 10mo ago
    What the heck is ‘dinner money’? Your parents couldn’t be arsed to cook even a single meal for you?
    - ben_w 10mo ago
      https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/dinner-money https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/dinner-...

retsibsi 10mo ago

Let's suppose the cause really is as simple as "parents can't be bothered to parent". By default, this will continue to be the case. And realistically we're not going to fix it by telling bad parents to please start being good parents. So what do you actually want to do? I'm not saying it's this or nothing, but if you don't have an alternative policy that might actually help, I don't take much comfort in the idea that the kids who are damaged will have _parents_ who totally deserved it.

lapcat 10mo ago
There are some alternative policies, for example, banning smartphones in schools. This doesn't completely solve the problem, of course, but at least it limits social media use while the children are under direct supervision of the government. A more extreme policy would be to treat smartphones themselves the same way we treat alcohol and cigarettes, enforcing an age minimum at the point of purchase. Of course the giant tech corporations would fly into rage over this suggestion and lobby heavily against it.