Social media addiction

nanna8

Two of my great grandchildren spend a lot of time on their iPads - one is 3 and the other 5. They are both pretty brainy and the 3 year old can read , presumably learnt through doing things online. Personally I don’t like it but then I am old and life is different now. Life changes .

I’m not criticising in any way, but imo, and I’m not that old (67) 3 and 5 is far too young, however bright they are, to be on screens more than an hour a day!

At those tender ages there are so many things they could be doing instead. I know from having a grandson that young children do still enjoy colouring, reading from books, cooking, playing outside (especially in the Aussie climate), making playdoh, painting, playing board games, honestly, the list is endless and I feel quite sad for your great GC, however “clever” they might be.

Calendargirl

I gather that Kaley, the girl the case is about, became addicted at 6 years old (to social media).

Surely the parents should have been able to do something to stop her being on it so much? It escalated to numerous hours a day as she got older.

I’ve no idea of the circumstances, but it all seems very strange to me.

A huge pay out, of course.

I find it utterly shocking and, imo, a huge failure on the parents behalf.

There have been multiple law suits against fast food companies Astitchintime notably MacDonald's but none have ever been successful.

Smileless2012

There have been multiple law suits against fast food companies Astitchintime notably MacDonald's but none have ever been successful.

Yes, for employment malpractice, harassment, misleading advertising but not for someone piling on excessive weight because they stuffed their faces with burgers all day, every day.

There have been law suits against fast food companies for obesity Astitchintime but none have been successful.

Depending where one lives in the world, fast food companies, much like Big Tobacco, have been reigned in. My children were raised in the US at a time where “Super-Sized” portions were sold and advertised. This is not true anymore. Tobacco companies that targeted youth through ads and cartoon-like mascots are no longer legally allowed to do so. Both of these regulations have been helpful in easing the normalising of harmful practices and their impact on youth. The thinly veiled arguments here against tech regulation won’t stand the test of time in the same way arguments against regulation of other major bad corporate actors didn’t. As I said, parents need to do their job and big tech needs to be held accountable. Both are needed to protect children, not one or the other.

Aside from the addiction factor Meta knowingly provides a platform for adults to share child exploitation images and prey on youth. It wouldn’t hurt anyone to actually read up on some of these lawsuits. It’s a lot deeper than the oversimplified ideas many have. The internal emails of the social media companies that were shared in some of these suits make it clear they all know exactly what they are doing and prefer to maximize profits over doing the decent thing.

BlessedArt
I was aware many years ago that the scum knew exactly what they were doing. It was being said at the time that those who were developing these algorithms would not let their children anywhere near these devices 🤬

Sorry to be late in responding to Smileless’s comment. I think the age and parental input argument is a bit of a straw man. Does it matter if a child becomes addicted at 6 or 16? The damage is done. I’m guilty myself of spending too much time on the internet/SM. It’s hard to resist, that instant gratification,

Fast food, and unhealthy food is everywhere, we have children pretty much growing up on Greggs food so I sm not sure how successful that intervention has been.

Oh the irony as I spend too much time here on GN and on my iPad in general

RosiesMawagain

Oh the irony as I spend too much time here on GN and on my iPad in general

A lot of us do. 😉

Yes, we are all guilty of spending too much time scrolling through stuff, but we are adults, six year olds aren’t, and surely the parents should be monitoring how long and what they are looking at?

Phones and I pads should be removed at bed time and on other occasions.

Do the six year olds do just as they like, or are the parents guilty of not noticing anything, as they are too busy on devices themselves?

No one should be ‘addicted’ at 6.

The latest report just announced as a result of research states that under twos should have NO screen time alone, and two to fives just one hour a day, split up into segments. They have demonstrated why it is damaging, especially if using screen time to try to calm a child down, though they advocate using screens together with a parent or carer.
I know screens are here to stay , and we are all on here, but screens did not exist as such for our children and my grandchildren were not on screens until secondary school: they all had good communication skills at an early age.

SueDonim

Sorry to be late in responding to Smileless’s comment. I think the age and parental input argument is a bit of a straw man. Does it matter if a child becomes addicted at 6 or 16? The damage is done. I’m guilty myself of spending too much time on the internet/SM. It’s hard to resist, that instant gratification,

It absolutely matters whether the child is 6 or 16. Addiction is an awful thing, but add these to lack of parental control?

I think both this girl's parents and the platforms involved are culpable.

I think we are all responsible to a degree.

How is a CB large amount of compensation going to help a 6 year old? Other than paying for therapy?

Like it or lump it, until our children reach the age of 18, children are our responsibility and whatever age they are we must do our very best to safeguard them. Somewhat more difficult at 16 than 6!

Calendargirl

Yes, we are all guilty of spending too much time scrolling through stuff, but we are adults, six year olds aren’t, and surely the parents should be monitoring how long and what they are looking at?

Phones and I pads should be removed at bed time and on other occasions.

Do the six year olds do just as they like, or are the parents guilty of not noticing anything, as they are too busy on devices themselves?

No one should be ‘addicted’ at 6.

👍👏👏👏👏👏👏

Galaxy

Fast food, and unhealthy food is everywhere, we have children pretty much growing up on Greggs food so I sm not sure how successful that intervention has been.

I never thought advertising etc has a huge impact, though I know there will be people of here who will completely disagree.

I’ve certainly tried new products or services due to advertising.

But I’ve never smoked, despite advertising being rampant in my youth, I like a Greggs and McD very occasionally but even if I saw adverts dozens of times a day it wouldn’t make me buy these goods.

In the case of the American girl who became addicted at six it is the parents fault. It's down to the parents to know the content their children are looking at and the amount of time they are on their devices.
My Grandson had a smart phone at 11, heavily monitored by his Mother. It is her responsibility as a parent to do so.
The tech companies are responsible though for the content. I will point out that some people like to gamble and do so responsibly, do we stop all gambling because some people get addicted? Yes IT companies have responsibility, but so do parents and so do we gor ourselves.

Fast food chains have been sued also cigarette makers and now we have claims for online addiction!
What next, chocolate? Libraries for causing reading addiction and eye problems?
If you become addicted to alcohol or gambling or anything else it’s your problem.
The blame game is everywhere.

Astitchintime

Are the tech companies really any different from the food and drink manufacturers? Surely, fast food outlets and breweries cannot be held responsible for anyone who overindulges, becomes obese, alcoholic, and develops all manner of health problems?

Yes, you are right to some degree
But the Tech Companies write attention distracting algorithms to exploit children. And they know they do and continue to cause herm.

Zucker and his cronies think that they are the Masters of Universe and cannot have enough power as money. They are really evil people.

Bunch of snakes who think that they are untouchable and can do what they want.

Oreo

Fast food chains have been sued also cigarette makers and now we have claims for online addiction!
What next, chocolate? Libraries for causing reading addiction and eye problems?
If you become addicted to alcohol or gambling or anything else it’s your problem.
The blame game is everywhere.

Addiction is awful, some people are so much more susceptible to addiction, some may even have “addiction personalities”, sometimes people become addicted to things without even realising.

It is their issue, their problem, but sometimes people need understanding and help.

I’m sorry, but imo, this simply doesn’t apply to a 6 year old girls who really shouldn’t be making any decisions herself except perhaps which story book to read, which food to eat and which pretty frock to wear. Her parents let their child have some much screen time she became addicted? What on earth were they thinking?

California, Los Angeles, the Democrat woke city. Apparently god shook the tree of life and all the nuts landed there. Bonkers jury. The parents had equal responsibility and failed in their duty of care allowing this young lady to spend 16 hours a day doom scrolling. Just madness.

Oreo

Television couldn’t harm them.

Oh it can they can get square eyes 😂

In the 18th century it was considered detrimental to the health and morals of young women, if they spent too long reading novels. 📖

You are correct Oreo, there was a recent warning about Roblox.

I have to disagree with those who say that parents cannot monitor children all the time. It's never been easier.
When we were children and played out all day our parents couldnt (didn't want to) monitor us. Now childrens tech use can easily be controlled. There are so many controls in place from time limits, my grandchildren aged 14 have a 2 hour in any 24 limit before it switches off, to apps which show up on parents phone if child accesses sites that haven't been agreed.