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Comment by pj_mukh | Hacker News Reader

"This is 100% an education issue"

It is not. Most parents I know have seen what it does to their kids, but have zero childcare. I have a white-collar remote job and can police my kids. If I was dual-parent working class, I don't think I'd be able to pull it off. I'm glad these laws are getting on the books, so at least the peer pressure of a classroom can get to a good majority of kids.

The kid with the iPad at the restaurant is just saliency bias ("I see it everywhere!"). This is not that different from blaming parents for sending their kids to school hungry or for their kids getting abducted or some such.

Social media is a vortex with a very strong societal pull.

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> It is not. Most parents I know have seen what it does to their kids, but have zero childcare.

And you are able to tell this ... how exactly? Why should other parents care about YOUR opinion in this regard? Because ultimately this comes down to a difference in opinion.

It is a parenting issue.

As a parent you can only get your children a smartphone when you decide they are old enough, and then iOS and Android have parental control down to app level.

Decent schools also ban phones now as well.

"Decent schools also ban phones now as well."

Yes and decent countries ban social media, because like schools, the countries recognize this is a collective action issue. You get your children a smartphone when it becomes the only way they can connect with their peers. That's my point.

That's very different from schools banning use of phone during school hours. And, no, your role as parent is not to blindly follow the herd if you think it is not good. That's certainly true for smartphones and, again, there is parental control if/when you get your children a smartphone.

You can only bring a horse to water, as the saying goes...

My cynical take is that social media are a convenient tool for government to justify more identification and control. ID cards, digital IDs, age verification systems, lack of anonymity, etc almost literally justified by "just think of the children".

"your role as parent is not to blindly follow the herd if you think it is not good."

This is just conservative individual responsibility pablum just re-imagined for IT.

"It doesn't matter if all of societies forces + giant multi-national tech corporations are conspiring to trap your child, individual responsibility is all that matters"

This argument doesn't work for smoking or drinking, and it shouldn't for social media.

I am describing basic parenting and you immediately and bizarrely jump to conservatism and corporate conspiracy... ok that's all for me.

Wait, you jumping to national ID's are a tool for national control is fine, but me saying social media is forensically designed to be hyper-addictive[1] is somehow bizarre?

Have a nice day I guess.

[1]: https://www.addictioncenter.com/news/2019/09/excessive-socia...

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