The Australian government has announced what it describes as world-leading legislation that would set 16 years as the minimum age for children to use social media and hold platforms responsible for ensuring compliance.
I’ve been in online communities since shortly after my 10th birthday and this has never once been a problem.
Most of my friends when I was a teenager were people I met online. It was beyond a reasonable doubt good for me to be on the Internet during that time because it was the only place where I fit in, where I could be myself.
If I ever have kids, I hope they fit in better than I did offline, but if they don’t, there is no way I am going to prevent them from socializing in online communities.
That’s great. That’s a personal antecdote though. I was online, unsupervised at 14 years old back in the late 90s, and being into anime and furry shit, I definitely had more than a couple people online trying to roleplay sexual shit with me…a fourteen year old kid. Even though my account profiles stated so. Unfettered, unsupervised access is also not the solution. I’m basing my opinion on this on my own experience as well. There are a shitload of predators out there.
I am not saying a blanket, hamfisted ban is the solution either. This is more complex than being a black and white problem. Where the fuck is everybody’s parents? They should be the ones actively guiding their kid through online spaces, not the government. It was literally a slogan in the 90s to “ask your parents before accessing such and such website” on every ad having to do with the Internet. WTF happened.
I don’t care about the laws, I don’t think parents should be allowing access to social media to their five year olds. Preteens maybe, with heavy supervision, yeah that’s reasonable, but not toddlers for fuck’s sake.
The law can go fuck itself, sure, but parents need to step the fuck up in this day and age. There is no reason for a 1st grader to be posting to X/FB/whatever. They should be playing Legos, riding bikes, and digging holes in the playground dirt.
Good luck arguing it here. I wonder how many here are 16 or younger, or close enough to that age where they grew up with the technology constantly in their face and couldn’t POSSIBLY imagine having lived without it.
At whatever age they want to.
holy shit why would you deprive kids of (often their only way to have any) social contacts and think you’re the good guys
Yeah, same with sugar, cigarettes and alcohol. Give these children what they want.
Cigarettes and alcohol are proven cancerous, physically addictive, etc.
I don’t think legislation should be based on mental gymnastics.
The “good guys” gotta ensure “good thinking” to do more gooder! \s
You wanna get a kiddy diddler messing with your kid? Because that’s how you get a kiddy diddler messing with your kid.
The same parent that handed the kid a device to be on social media can also take the kid out somewhere to socialize with other kids.
I’ve been in online communities since shortly after my 10th birthday and this has never once been a problem.
Most of my friends when I was a teenager were people I met online. It was beyond a reasonable doubt good for me to be on the Internet during that time because it was the only place where I fit in, where I could be myself.
If I ever have kids, I hope they fit in better than I did offline, but if they don’t, there is no way I am going to prevent them from socializing in online communities.
That’s great. That’s a personal antecdote though. I was online, unsupervised at 14 years old back in the late 90s, and being into anime and furry shit, I definitely had more than a couple people online trying to roleplay sexual shit with me…a fourteen year old kid. Even though my account profiles stated so. Unfettered, unsupervised access is also not the solution. I’m basing my opinion on this on my own experience as well. There are a shitload of predators out there.
I am not saying a blanket, hamfisted ban is the solution either. This is more complex than being a black and white problem. Where the fuck is everybody’s parents? They should be the ones actively guiding their kid through online spaces, not the government. It was literally a slogan in the 90s to “ask your parents before accessing such and such website” on every ad having to do with the Internet. WTF happened.
Satanic Panic but this time about pedophiles.
These laws will be used to restrict information, not to protect anyway, don’t delude youraelf.
I don’t care about the laws, I don’t think parents should be allowing access to social media to their five year olds. Preteens maybe, with heavy supervision, yeah that’s reasonable, but not toddlers for fuck’s sake.
The law can go fuck itself, sure, but parents need to step the fuck up in this day and age. There is no reason for a 1st grader to be posting to X/FB/whatever. They should be playing Legos, riding bikes, and digging holes in the playground dirt.
Good luck arguing it here. I wonder how many here are 16 or younger, or close enough to that age where they grew up with the technology constantly in their face and couldn’t POSSIBLY imagine having lived without it.
Pretty sure you get a kiddy diddler messing with your kid by going to church.
When they gonna ban church for kids under 16?