Parental Control Laws on Apps Don't Solve Everything (and create new problems)

And some other ideas that can help (my opinion in Newsweek)

Legislators, parents and the media are having a heated conversation right now about when kids should get phones and have access to social media. Some states like Tennessee, Utah, Ohio, Florida, Texas, and others have proposed social media legislation to restrict young users via parental restrictions. Many of these proposed laws over-reach and are dangerous to young people's safety, access to information, and freedoms of expression. Ohio's proposed law was put on hold by a federal judge who called the law a "breathtakingly blunt instrument for reducing social media's harm to children."

On the other hand, states like New York have proposed legislation that would regulate the companies rather than the users. New York's law includes proposals to limit invasive algorithmic data collection and that lead to "suggested posts." These kinds of interventions, especially the limitations on algorithmic tracking, could support a healthier social media experience for all of us–not just for kids.

Read it here.

Then go talk to some kids. What do they think? What would make their social media experience better? The kids I interviewed for Growing Up in Public shred strategies for accessing the upsides and minimizing the risks of using apps like Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram.

They shared strategies like:

• unfollowing problematic peers and influencers.

• Curating their feeds toward positive/affirming accounts.

• Planning social media breaks.

• Agreeing to boundaries with friends about keeping posts private—no screenshots!

• Sharing college admissions news 1:1 before blasting it out.
  

  We can support them in their efforts to have a more positive experience by regulating social media companies.

  
  OK, OK, We can make it better for ALL of us, but what about kids?

  
  

  If you suspect that your child is depressed, help them connect with a mental health professional at school or in the community. Simply taking away their phone isn’t going to solve an existing mental health crisis, and if your child is in crisis, there may be reasons not to cut them off from a lifeline.

  Protecting kids’ sleep is especially important, and again, has proven benefits in terms of mental health. We can model good sleep hygiene by shutting tech down well before bedtime and putting our own devices away and having our kids do the same. The example we’re setting as adults matters. Are we texting and driving? Double screening (scrolling on our phones while we watch TV with our kids)? How can we model living a balanced life where we’re using tech to make our lives better and putting it away when it’s not.
  
  From the Newsweek piece: