It’s this sort of story that fills me with utter terror.
It would help if Ofcom etc were not completely useless stooges and people like Zuckerberg had a moral compass, but they don’t. So yeah I am inclined to agree. I think people of my generation can easily view it like parental advisory stickers on rap LP’s in the 90’s, it will only encourage sales etc. There is always an element of that but I agree something should be done. Just a weird about turn at a very strange time for Starmer. If they are going to do this then how tf are they letting Palantir look at my medical records?
Roblox. The devil incarnate imo. My two look at IG and Facebook as places for old people. The main thing I try and be with my two is someone that they can say anything to with no shame. Like Mark said we are complicit. I don’t live in the same house as them full time any more which made it double hard but in a way I was glad it happened then bacuse we are all on the same page now.
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man don’t get me started on Roblox. i keep telling people how awful it is and they don’t listen. the only “safe” way to use it is to learn how to setup a private server on it yourself (which is really easy) but then it sort of ruins the point of the platform.
so many cases of grooming and shit going on and the company claims it has safeguards in place but they do nothing
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Yeah, it’s fucking mental and the most addictive thing on the internet for them. I would advise any parent to avoid it. I didn’t even know what it was and was working so hard I barely noticed when she started using it. It was on the Ipad not phones at first.
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My kids pretty much came up at the most damaging time possible as far as this stuff goes, and I was busy with 30,000 twats following me on IG because I worked for Supreme. When I look back on it it’s a regret but it was just what everyone was doing. Parenting is challenging
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our eldest had Roblox but our youngest will never have it. it annoys him but i don’t care he’s not getting on that shit. we’re quite lax on a lot of things but i’m staying firm on that
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the fact that you can even talk like this shows that you’re involved and care about their mental wellbeing which is considerably better than a lot of parents out there
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Don’t blame you
I disagree so strongly with this. When has banning anything ever solved something (aside from maybe guns in the UK?)
Desperation. They haven’t even written the list of what they are banning and when they do it’ll be wrong. Good luck with a generation of teenagers who are about to become really good at covertly using the internet.
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I feel somewhere in the middle, it just feels like Starmer positioning himself in the current climate, which is what he always does, which is why he’s on the way out. They will almost certainly make a pigs ear of it.
This is the approach I’d like to adopt in future once my younglings are at that age, if it makes me seem too strict to keep them away from potential groomers then I’ll just have to live with that.
Wouldn’t want to judge other parents decisions too harshly though.
cigarettes, alcohol, pornography, driving, weapons - the list is endless. are all of those things still accessible to children? yes. is it harder for them to access them? yes. if a large chunk of society cannot be trusted to parent their children why shouldn’t the state step in?
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Regulating technology like this is really challenging and complex. Feels like another of those things that would have been far better if we were still part of the EU and tackled at that level. Big enough to actually force the American tech twats to do what we want. All they’ll do is drag their heels and double down on their efforts to get Farage in as PM.
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It is the adults that need to do the work with their own kids. My son is completely over most of it now. It moves so quickly that there will always be something fucked up for them to be into that we don’t have a clue about. He likes skating but isn’t into any skate companies, a little wise ass. Last video we watched was the last Baker one and at the end he goes " I think I lost ten brain cells watching that dad ". They’re gonna be fine. Not so sure about the adults
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Like anything, your options are education and prohibition. One works but it takes time and effort. The other one encourages people to hide things. All conceived by a group of old white men who don’t understand what they are actually working with. How many people had a wank last year by taking a photo of Alan Titchmarsh for age verification?
What happens in 12 months when something sad or awful happens and all the digital evidence is locked away in triple encrypted Chinese chat apps and nobody can access it?
The goal is 100 percent valid and important. The method is a chocolate fireguard.
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This and This.
I’ve explained social media to my kids.
Working in a school, I get the impression some kids are slready over social media snd actually look down on it. Their opinion might be informed but I think it’s probably from personal experience.
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15 year olds are going to be screwing when it comes in. I left school the year that Thatcher took away the dole for 16-18 year olds and replaced it with the YTS ( young thick shit ) scheme. 27.50 a week pay for a full time job when the dole paid 21 a week. Everyone in year above us signing on which was alot easier in those days. Fellas covered in paint in trench coats with taxis waiting outside etc.
This is the only generational comparison I can think of
let’s take a different approach to this chat. can any of you tell me, without looking it up, what ages tik tok / meta / google etc. say are the minimum ages for using their various social media platforms?
ALL of these platforms already have a minimum age but it is almost completely unenforced. The government is asking them to raise those minimum ages to a higher number and to actually enforce what they should be doing already
the porn thing from earlier in the year was ridiculous. i don’t agree with a lot of how that was rolled out (whilst i agree with the general sentiment of it). this social media thing is different to that. kids should not be on social media
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