In this episode of Ways to Change the World, Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to the social psychologist whose work helped ignite a global rethink of childhood in the smartphone age.
I got my first smartphone at age 24, and it has messed up my attention span and the way I deal with boredom. I can only imagine what kids who get their smartphones at 10 or 12 must go through. You're not supposed to carry in your pocket a little device that can get you addicted to a multitude of things: social media, p0rn, online bets, gaming, dating apps, messaging 24/7, etc. It's harmful for adults, let alone for kids who are still developing their brains and their entire personalities
I deprogrammed myself from horrific narcissistic abuse from my parents from when I was a kid. It's kind of the same thing where your brain/nervous system is wired in a particularly unhealthy way. Rewiring/unlearning can be done but if the programming started in childhood there will most probably be lingering behaviours of those early years.
Over 7000 youth centres have been closed by the Conservatives and this has not been undone by labour.
Education, nhs are being hollowed out and university is debt trap. The young have totally marigjnised by both the Labour and Conservative governments, who are happy to destroy any prospect of a good education, safe communal spaces, healthcare, home ownership and a liveable planet.... social media is the least of their problems .... and that is saying something.
And to echo all the others, social media is a problem for us adults too.
As a teacher I'll occasionally ask my 8 and 9 year olds to raise their hand if they're allowed to use a tablet or phone as much as they like at home. It's alarming how exactly the ones raising their hands are the ones with the worst attention span in lessons and by extension the worst academic performance, test performance, and even behavioural problems.
Agreed with his points until he started talking about Australia's new social media ban for under 16s and age verification.
No, it's no one else's responsibility to monitor what apps and websites children are using other than their own parents/guardians; not the state's, not the government's, not mine. No, I don't trust Apple/Google/Meta/etc. with my government documents. Giving up my privacy and freedom as an adult isn't fair just because parents have no idea what their kids are doing online and don't bother to keep track of it.
This also raises many questions such as, "How will Google, Apple, Meta, etc., ensure the encryption/safety of our personal information (IDs, passports, facial scans) and out of the hands of hackers or data breaches?", and "How do I know the gov isn't going to use my information to track me?".
The immortality of the parents are even way too much. These adults haven't been able to look after the children. All the social media need to be shutdown before it's too late.
This is truly disturbing. To think that my generation has effectively conducted a global experiment on our children. And, worse, that we allowed corporations to deliberately harm those children by leading them all in to psychological addiction, anxiety, depression and self harm. Capitalism is truly evil!
When my children were little (currently 27 and 25) my eldest son was diagnosed ADHD at 3 as soon as he went to nursery. I saw how addictive and attractive computer games, screen time and social media was even then. I insisted computer games was limited to DS’s which could be taken away, and we periodically instituted ‘tech detoxes’- a six week total detox where they had half an hour TV a day only. The first 24 hours was always horrific. Neither child was allowed social media before 13 because that was the age limit. I didn’t care what anyone else’s parents did. Even then we as parents were also friends and had their passwords. So we had access and could see what was going one. My eldest described their childhood as Gen X as they were encouraged to play outside with friends and go down the park. My kids both have masters degrees now, even the one with severe ADHD. I had my kids young. I was 21 when my eldest was born. If I could stand up to my kids and say no I have never got how older parents failed to be strict over screens and keeping to the age limits on computer games and social media.
I’m teacher and I’m very worried.. not just for children, but for all of humanity. Even adults are addicted. People don’t realize how we are basically always being pushed and pulled by neurochemical processes stimulated by various activities and drives, and how disruptive online devices have been to our behaviors, executive functioning and learning processes. It’s a f-cking disaster
He is skirting around the fact that the internet became harmful as a direct result of the profit motive being introduced.
The only reason the algorithms exist and the only reason the platforms worked on becoming more addictive, is because they had to sell advertising space and user data in order to generate revenue after going public.
FB went public at an astronomical valuation even though it had never collected a cent in revenue and had no mechanism for making money.
Same for YT.
We would all be better off of these platforms were not for profit, but so many people ware earring a living through them now that it’s a bit like trying to unscramble an egg.
Also we need to point out that adults are hooked. The same adults that "say" something needs to change but are hooked and addicted as well.
This NEEDS to be treated as a precursor to getting their children less addicted.
I'm a fan of Jonathan Haidt and I agree about the addictive nature of social media and trying to protect kids and young teens from it - but I found it a bit distrurbing how he even mentions Orwell in this interview but is excited about technological advances that enable governments to surveil and have more control over what their populations can and can't access...
I'm 50 and cannot concentrate on anything any more, at least anything that matters. But I'm well-informed about a trillion things that don't really matter. Let's give our kids a break as well.
Screens are a massive problem, i didn't believe it before but they are!
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Education, nhs are being hollowed out and university is debt trap. The young have totally marigjnised by both the Labour and Conservative governments, who are happy to destroy any prospect of a good education, safe communal spaces, healthcare, home ownership and a liveable planet.... social media is the least of their problems .... and that is saying something.
And to echo all the others, social media is a problem for us adults too.
No, it's no one else's responsibility to monitor what apps and websites children are using other than their own parents/guardians; not the state's, not the government's, not mine. No, I don't trust Apple/Google/Meta/etc. with my government documents. Giving up my privacy and freedom as an adult isn't fair just because parents have no idea what their kids are doing online and don't bother to keep track of it.
This also raises many questions such as, "How will Google, Apple, Meta, etc., ensure the encryption/safety of our personal information (IDs, passports, facial scans) and out of the hands of hackers or data breaches?", and "How do I know the gov isn't going to use my information to track me?".
force adults to give their ID to social media websites that have data breaches all the time, risking identity theft..
The only reason the algorithms exist and the only reason the platforms worked on becoming more addictive, is because they had to sell advertising space and user data in order to generate revenue after going public.
FB went public at an astronomical valuation even though it had never collected a cent in revenue and had no mechanism for making money.
Same for YT.
We would all be better off of these platforms were not for profit, but so many people ware earring a living through them now that it’s a bit like trying to unscramble an egg.
This NEEDS to be treated as a precursor to getting their children less addicted.