If parents have control over when their children get a smartphone and how they use it, why are social media apps being blamed for causing harm to children? Thousands of families and 41 states have filed lawsuits alleging TikTok, Snapchat, and Meta designed their platforms to be addictive and knowingly cause harm to children’s mental health are commonly mentioned in the news. Yet social media companies don’t distribute digital devices to children, parents do.
It’s obvious that social media apps were created to be addictive because the longer a user stays on the platform the more money the parent company makes from paid ads. Considering most adults struggle to limit their own screentime, how can any parent expect their children to control their own usage? They can’t. Parents can hold off on giving their child a smartphone then install apps that control screentime and usage to help keep them safe. Until they’re older, younger children can use “dumb phones”, phones that don’t use apps, in case of emergencies when they’re at school or with friends.
Today’s social media isn’t the Facebook of 2004 when users joined to stay connected or reconnect with friends and family. Social media usage began to change once Radio and TV stations, celebrities, politicians, and businesses realized the marketing power of the platforms. That’s when LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter became tools for promotion, politics, and propaganda. Then Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok came on the scene as AI technology advanced, making an already bad situation worse. We’ve all heard the term, “don’t believe everything you hear’ but today it’s “don’t believe everything you see”. Adults struggle to identify fake stories and AI images and videos on social media apps, so children are sitting ducks for bad actors and bullies. The more time a child spends on apps the bigger the risk to their body image, feeling of self-worth, sleep, and education. When children are on social media apps, they are in danger of being exposed to predators and cyberbullying. All social media can be detrimental to a person’s health, children and adults alike. Moderation is key and supervision is paramount for a child’s welfare.