The great H. L. Mencken once wrote that the “whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”
Such is the case with children and social media. Sensing a hobgoblin stalking the land from which it can extract political dividends, the political class is proposing not just to ban malefactors like TikTok, but to ban kids from social media altogether:
The measure, led by Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah), would require companies to verify users' ages and allow parents to sue them if they fail to keep those under 16 off their sites. It would also empower federal and state agencies to enforce the standards.
Why a ban? Because the nanny state can't rest while someone, somewhere, is doing something it doesn't like:
Stewart likened the effect social media can have on children and teens to that of drugs, a refrain that's becoming increasingly common in Washington.
“We protect our children from drinking, from smoking, from driving. They can't drive when they're 12,” he said in an interview. “We should protect them from the impacts of social media.”
It's an inexorable, inflexible logic that inevitably leads to the infantilization of teenagers and their parents. But it's also good politics, in some quarters – namely those which adhere to the Helen Lovejoy school of public policy.
Or to think of it another way. “The Music Man” was not a documentary. And members of Congress would be better advised working on the far bigger and more dangerous issue of federal spending than scaring-up social media hobgoblins.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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A Cranialrectolectomy of stupid politicians is required!
Sadly, there is plenty of evidence that social media is bad for kids. People who spent their childhoods actually interacting with real people, their peers and others, before the internet, acquired better interpersonal skills and attitudes.
It’s ironic we call it “social media” when it’s actually quite anti-social, esp for the younger set. It can be very isolating, which is the last thing kids need. It’s like always eating candy rather than real food.