@@ Surgeon General: Warning Label on Social Media

[joy]

Jun 18, 2024 7:30:49 GMT -5 jinkies said:

I think this is necessary.

I am currently reading The Anxious Generation which is about the damage being caused by a phone filled childhood. It's horrifying but I also recommend it. I'm actually reading it with my 16 year old, at the recommendation of one of his teachers.

I am reading this book right now. It’s very eye-opening and going to change how I introduce smart phones to my kid. And - like - parent in general.

We can all collectively say “It’s impossible to change!” or we can take a beat and find a way. My sister and I are exploring ways to do this among our four kids as a start.

[joy]

The issue isn’t screen vs no screen. It’s about interaction and the dopamine hit that comes with it.

I was thinking that YouTube isn’t much different than me watching endless reruns as a kid. But it is. YouTube keeps curating and changing what is shown based on what is watched. My kid will flip incessantly from one video to another as she sees something she likes. It’s just hit after hit of a pleasure button. Me watching another episode of Facts of Life at ten because the schedule put it on doesn’t quite “hit” the brain the same way.

The actual interaction amongst kids online is also problematic as it’s removed from in person interactions. No body language, no working it out in real time, often asynchronous. Humans were not meant to develop in this vacuum. Couple all this with parents who are overly safety cautious and you have a lot of intriguing developmental issues.

I’m not sure how I feel about the thesis of Anxious Generation as a whole, but it is making me think, reflect and do things a bit differently both for my kid and myself.

[wanderingback]

Jun 20, 2024 7:09:44 GMT -5 joy said:

Jun 18, 2024 7:30:49 GMT -5 jinkies said:

I think this is necessary.

I am currently reading The Anxious Generation which is about the damage being caused by a phone filled childhood. It's horrifying but I also recommend it. I'm actually reading it with my 16 year old, at the recommendation of one of his teachers.

I am reading this book right now. It’s very eye-opening and going to change how I introduce smart phones to my kid. And - like - parent in general.

We can all collectively say “It’s impossible to change!” or we can take a beat and find a way. My sister and I are exploring ways to do this among our four kids as a start.

This is me being lazy, I likely won’t read the book now/soon.

Wanna give a summary about what you’re changing and why?
My daughter is young, 19 months and we haven’t introduced screens and had no real plans to, but would love to learn more info!

[neverfstop]

CA Gov Gavin Newsom Calls for school ban

Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2024/06/18/us/california-newsom-smartphone-ban.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1E0.WMOX.yx5K3--UD7Y9&smid=url-share

[wanderingback]

Jun 20, 2024 10:01:13 GMT -5 neverfstop said:

CA Gov Gavin Newsom Calls for school ban

Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2024/06/18/us/california-newsom-smartphone-ban.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1E0.WMOX.yx5K3--UD7Y9&smid=url-share

I couldn’t believe that in a post on ML there were parents of middle schoolers and high schoolers who said their teachers assumed their kids had smart phones and make them use apps for assisgnments during class. So problematic!

[joy]

Jun 20, 2024 8:19:39 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Jun 20, 2024 7:09:44 GMT -5 joy said:

I am reading this book right now. It’s very eye-opening and going to change how I introduce smart phones to my kid. And - like - parent in general.

We can all collectively say “It’s impossible to change!” or we can take a beat and find a way. My sister and I are exploring ways to do this among our four kids as a start.

This is me being lazy, I likely won’t read the book now/soon.

Wanna give a summary about what you’re changing and why?
My daughter is young, 19 months and we haven’t introduced screens and had no real plans to, but would love to learn more info!

Yes! I will be back, though. I have to present some science first at work.

[Jalapeñomel]

NPR discussion:

www.npr.org/2024/06/17/1198912663/social-media-warning-label-surgeon-general-youth-mental-health-crisis-lawsuit

[picksthemusic]

Related @@@@

We are traveling to Chicago on Saturday and the kids will be staying with my ILs. They usually don't limit the kids with screen time because they are grandparents who don't like to say no to the kids. We limit them when we are there with them, but know that they get much more when we are not there due to this. Well, CNN did a story on this very thing, and even though we've told them this countless times, now that CNN said it, they are totally on board with limiting screen time for the kids. So. I guess that's a win?

DS has ADHD and we have severely limited his screen time, and will definitely do so over the summer.

[joy]

Jun 20, 2024 8:19:39 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Jun 20, 2024 7:09:44 GMT -5 joy said:

I am reading this book right now. It’s very eye-opening and going to change how I introduce smart phones to my kid. And - like - parent in general.

We can all collectively say “It’s impossible to change!” or we can take a beat and find a way. My sister and I are exploring ways to do this among our four kids as a start.

This is me being lazy, I likely won’t read the book now/soon.

Wanna give a summary about what you’re changing and why?
My daughter is young, 19 months and we haven’t introduced screens and had no real plans to, but would love to learn more info!

Okay, I’m back!

So, my sister went down this rabbit hole after she gave my niece a phone at 12 and my niece started to struggle with all the access. It lead to this book and several others so she’s starting to make changes.

There are so many points so this may be disjointed.

1. Children need in person interactions and experiences to grow up into adults who can have healthy social interactions, a sense of self, and resiliency.

Interactions via text or apps is simply not a substitute for a variety of human developmental reasons. This is not about a screen so much as it is how the screen is being used. This is not about social media but more how kids are communicating (meaning texting is just as problematic).

Just as communication via texting/social media is removed from the real world, so are experiences. A child cannot learn how to climb a tree by watching a kid do it on a screen. Many kids are watching things happen now instead of doing due to an overall increase of safety-centered parenting that has worried parents saying no to kids doing a lot of things. Watching/telling is not a replacement for an actual experience. A screen is giving kids so much replacement instead of actual doing. This leads to them having never really experienced much and freezing/unsureness when it happens in real life.

There are key ages where brains start to change and having asynchronous/virtual world friendships is just not at all okay for the brain. 12 is too young. 16/18 is actually better.

2. Constant interactions with the phone are leading to distraction. How often do we sit at dinner, out with friends, at work and notice our phone flashing with some kind of message. The time we spend truly being in real world vs. being distracted by the virtual world is staggering.

3. Apps are designed to hit reward centers in our brains so we keep coming back to them. A “like” on Facebook makes us feel good so we keep coming back to see if someone else “liked” something. Same with games. Same with literally every damn app. They are designed to keep us hooked. Algorithms enhance this.

4. Aging up milestones in our society are becoming somewhat obscure and obsolete. Then put kids on the internet where everyone is the same age and there’s no built in way to teach kids proper levels of responsibility on the internet in a structured way.


There’s more, but this is what I’m focusing on now.

Changes I’m making?

Being conscious of letting my kid experience things even if that means getting a little hurt.

Limiting time on apps that allow my kid interaction virtually either with the app or other kids.

Letting her know what responsibilities will come to her with what age. Ex. She’s about to turn 8, which means she will start walking to school with friends (not me!), have a short list of chores that will earn her an allowance, etc.

I’m watching my sister to see how she’s going to handle smart phone for her younger kids. She has thoughts, like offering an iWatch instead of a smart phone so they can still text with friends but not be as distracted by the device.

[fancynewbeesly]

I am an elementary tech/media/stem teacher---I have noticed a HUGE shift with ALL grade levels. Things that I have done with my classes 10 years ago--I couldn't do now. (Obviously behaviors and larger class sizes do play a role-but even my classes that are still smaller I can't). Focusing is a HUGE issue---I feel like unless I am literally doing cartwheels, I can't get kids to focus.

And I am not talking expecting kindergarten to sit for 40 minute lecture hall/whole group style--that is ridiculous. But things where I give 5-10 minute mini lessons and instructions and maybe only a handful pay attention to the actual directions. I noticed that in all grade levels.

I also notice when students work in groups they just don't know how to. I can model it until I am blue in my face. I can assign roles. Jobs. Mediate. Circulate. But I STILL always ended up with full groups in tears. (even the older kids-4th and 5th graders). And I try to have them work in groups AT LEAST once or twice a month in my class--and even in June there were still tears.

For my own kids-I have a 13 year old and a 6 year old. My 13 year old does have a phone--and has it since she was 11. However she doesn't have social media-and truthfully barely uses it except for music in the car, some math games and streaming TV shows. (She actually uses her Nintendo Switch a lot more than her phone).

My 6 year old we have a kids kindle fire (no YouTube) but we never actually charge it-so she may get it a few times a month. (Or on a really long car ride--like this summer when we drive to Florida). She uses her yoto player (which is an audiobook/music player-but essentially screen free-daily).

Both of my girls watch TV-but it is usually as background noise, and they aren't just passively watching it.

We are very lucky in the respect that our neighborhood is safe and there are some places that are easy to bike ride too. We have A LOT of kids on our block, so both of my girls are back and forth between friends houses. My 13 year old bikes to school with friends. We purposely and consciously try to give them more freedom. We feel like experiences are super important to growth along with unstructured free time.

[onomatopoeia]

Jun 20, 2024 10:23:39 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Jun 20, 2024 10:01:13 GMT -5 neverfstop said:

CA Gov Gavin Newsom Calls for school ban

Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2024/06/18/us/california-newsom-smartphone-ban.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1E0.WMOX.yx5K3--UD7Y9&smid=url-share

I couldn’t believe that in a post on ML there were parents of middle schoolers and high schoolers who said their teachers assumed their kids had smart phones and make them use apps for assisgnments during class. So problematic!

My younger son was Police Cadets briefly when he was 13 years and the way the officers communicated with the cadets was via Snapchat.  Any updates on time changes, what to bring to class, etc.  I was shocked. 

Both he and my older son (now 15 and 18) need their phone apps to do homework, find out their sports schedules, their work schedules, extracurricular info, etc.  It does make it more difficult to restrict usage when they legitimately need it. 

[dove]

Jun 20, 2024 8:19:39 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Jun 20, 2024 7:09:44 GMT -5 joy said:

I am reading this book right now. It’s very eye-opening and going to change how I introduce smart phones to my kid. And - like - parent in general.

We can all collectively say “It’s impossible to change!” or we can take a beat and find a way. My sister and I are exploring ways to do this among our four kids as a start.

This is me being lazy, I likely won’t read the book now/soon.

Wanna give a summary about what you’re changing and why?
My daughter is young, 19 months and we haven’t introduced screens and had no real plans to, but would love to learn more info!

I’ll do you one better. Here’s an interview he did summarizing the book on PBS

[Jalapeñomel]

Jun 20, 2024 12:07:22 GMT -5 joy said:

Jun 20, 2024 8:19:39 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

This is me being lazy, I likely won’t read the book now/soon.

Wanna give a summary about what you’re changing and why?
My daughter is young, 19 months and we haven’t introduced screens and had no real plans to, but would love to learn more info!

Okay, I’m back!

So, my sister went down this rabbit hole after she gave my niece a phone at 12 and my niece started to struggle with all the access. It lead to this book and several others so she’s starting to make changes.

There are so many points so this may be disjointed.

1. Children need in person interactions and experiences to grow up into adults who can have healthy social interactions, a sense of self, and resiliency.

Interactions via text or apps is simply not a substitute for a variety of human developmental reasons. This is not about a screen so much as it is how the screen is being used. This is not about social media but more how kids are communicating (meaning texting is just as problematic).

Just as communication via texting/social media is removed from the real world, so are experiences. A child cannot learn how to climb a tree by watching a kid do it on a screen. Many kids are watching things happen now instead of doing due to an overall increase of safety-centered parenting that has worried parents saying no to kids doing a lot of things. Watching/telling is not a replacement for an actual experience. A screen is giving kids so much replacement instead of actual doing. This leads to them having never really experienced much and freezing/unsureness when it happens in real life.

There are key ages where brains start to change and having asynchronous/virtual world friendships is just not at all okay for the brain. 12 is too young. 16/18 is actually better.

2. Constant interactions with the phone are leading to distraction. How often do we sit at dinner, out with friends, at work and notice our phone flashing with some kind of message. The time we spend truly being in real world vs. being distracted by the virtual world is staggering.

3. Apps are designed to hit reward centers in our brains so we keep coming back to them. A “like” on Facebook makes us feel good so we keep coming back to see if someone else “liked” something. Same with games. Same with literally every damn app. They are designed to keep us hooked. Algorithms enhance this.

4. Aging up milestones in our society are becoming somewhat obscure and obsolete. Then put kids on the internet where everyone is the same age and there’s no built in way to teach kids proper levels of responsibility on the internet in a structured way.


There’s more, but this is what I’m focusing on now.

Changes I’m making?

Being conscious of letting my kid experience things even if that means getting a little hurt.

Limiting time on apps that allow my kid interaction virtually either with the app or other kids.

Letting her know what responsibilities will come to her with what age. Ex. She’s about to turn 8, which means she will start walking to school with friends (not me!), have a short list of chores that will earn her an allowance, etc.

I’m watching my sister to see how she’s going to handle smart phone for her younger kids. She has thoughts, like offering an iWatch instead of a smart phone so they can still text with friends but not be as distracted by the device.

You may appreciate this joy, although tangentially related:

For years I’d do the elephant toothpaste demo for my kids. Something happened in the last couple of years (lol), and now, if I do it, the kids are like, “that’s it?? On YouTube they cover the entire house! Can’t you do that??”

Sigh. No, I can’t do that, but what I did was still cool! Come on now!

[joy]

Jun 20, 2024 17:55:01 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Jun 20, 2024 12:07:22 GMT -5 joy said:

Okay, I’m back!

So, my sister went down this rabbit hole after she gave my niece a phone at 12 and my niece started to struggle with all the access. It lead to this book and several others so she’s starting to make changes.

There are so many points so this may be disjointed.

1. Children need in person interactions and experiences to grow up into adults who can have healthy social interactions, a sense of self, and resiliency.

Interactions via text or apps is simply not a substitute for a variety of human developmental reasons. This is not about a screen so much as it is how the screen is being used. This is not about social media but more how kids are communicating (meaning texting is just as problematic).

Just as communication via texting/social media is removed from the real world, so are experiences. A child cannot learn how to climb a tree by watching a kid do it on a screen. Many kids are watching things happen now instead of doing due to an overall increase of safety-centered parenting that has worried parents saying no to kids doing a lot of things. Watching/telling is not a replacement for an actual experience. A screen is giving kids so much replacement instead of actual doing. This leads to them having never really experienced much and freezing/unsureness when it happens in real life.

There are key ages where brains start to change and having asynchronous/virtual world friendships is just not at all okay for the brain. 12 is too young. 16/18 is actually better.

2. Constant interactions with the phone are leading to distraction. How often do we sit at dinner, out with friends, at work and notice our phone flashing with some kind of message. The time we spend truly being in real world vs. being distracted by the virtual world is staggering.

3. Apps are designed to hit reward centers in our brains so we keep coming back to them. A “like” on Facebook makes us feel good so we keep coming back to see if someone else “liked” something. Same with games. Same with literally every damn app. They are designed to keep us hooked. Algorithms enhance this.

4. Aging up milestones in our society are becoming somewhat obscure and obsolete. Then put kids on the internet where everyone is the same age and there’s no built in way to teach kids proper levels of responsibility on the internet in a structured way.


There’s more, but this is what I’m focusing on now.

Changes I’m making?

Being conscious of letting my kid experience things even if that means getting a little hurt.

Limiting time on apps that allow my kid interaction virtually either with the app or other kids.

Letting her know what responsibilities will come to her with what age. Ex. She’s about to turn 8, which means she will start walking to school with friends (not me!), have a short list of chores that will earn her an allowance, etc.

I’m watching my sister to see how she’s going to handle smart phone for her younger kids. She has thoughts, like offering an iWatch instead of a smart phone so they can still text with friends but not be as distracted by the device.

You may appreciate this joy, although tangentially related:

For years I’d do the elephant toothpaste demo for my kids. Something happened in the last couple of years (lol), and now, if I do it, the kids are like, “that’s it?? On YouTube they cover the entire house! Can’t you do that??”

Sigh. No, I can’t do that, but what I did was still cool! Come on now!

Omg! ::waves cane at YouTube::

[melmaria]

Jun 20, 2024 8:19:39 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Jun 20, 2024 7:09:44 GMT -5 joy said:

I am reading this book right now. It’s very eye-opening and going to change how I introduce smart phones to my kid. And - like - parent in general.

We can all collectively say “It’s impossible to change!” or we can take a beat and find a way. My sister and I are exploring ways to do this among our four kids as a start.

This is me being lazy, I likely won’t read the book now/soon.

Wanna give a summary about what you’re changing and why?
My daughter is young, 19 months and we haven’t introduced screens and had no real plans to, but would love to learn more info!

He wrote an article for The Atlantic which is basically a synopsis of his book: www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/teen-childhood-smartphone-use-mental-health-effects/677722/?gift=78KywMy9CjVX59jC0EuQlol_TlrFowcOrbW5-dOe6do&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Yes, Atlantic articles are long but still shorter than the book! Highly, highly recommend. I’ve been screaming into this void for a decade.

[sent]

I’m nervous to ask on my local group who the parents are that would support me in not giving their kids a phone in 6th grade. I know I have to do it. I’ll either find my people or be pinned as a forever uncool mom.

[lilac05]

joy, thanks for all of that info. I’ve got this book on my TBR list, and have read a lot about the topic, but haven’t gotten to that one yet. You might also like the work of Cal Newton. I heard a great interview with him on The Huberman Lab podcast awhile back about neurological development and screens and a lot of what you’re talking about. One interesting takeaway from that…he doesn’t let his kids play free games/apps. Says they’re paid for by ads that are supported by continuous play due to dopamine mining…that comment was eye opening! It made so much sense.

I agree that all of the tech is just as problematic for adults as kids. I’m waiting for someone to do research on adult brains and people who were diagnosed with ADHD as adults. Were some of the diagnoses missed in childhood? 100%. But is some of it a change in our ability to focus driven by our relatively new habits thanks to technology and all of the dopamine hits we’re getting that we used to not have (like teachers are seeing in classrooms)? I think so. My hypothesis is that down the road, we’re going to tease “ADHD” back out again and differentiate between genetic and environmental(?) and adult onset and adult identified.

There’s a new book coming out that I want to read by Carlos Whittaker, I think called Reconnected about his 7 weeks without a single screen. They did brain scans before and after, and I’m anxious to see…

I know I need to make changes myself. And I’ve told my 13 year old that the continuous dopamine hits are why he still doesn’t have a phone. He has a watch and can communicate with friends. He’s watched enough friends go from being fun and interactive to phone zombies to agree with me (mostly). Thankfully, in his circle of friends, there are still several kids who don’t have phones, so that makes it easier!

[lostrn]

Jun 20, 2024 21:40:42 GMT -5 sent said:

I’m nervous to ask on my local group who the parents are that would support me in not giving their kids a phone in 6th grade. I know I have to do it. I’ll either find my people or be pinned as a forever uncool mom.

Or just do you! There will be so many opportunities to be the uncool mom, don't worry.

[lilac05]

Jun 20, 2024 23:40:43 GMT -5 lostrn said:

Jun 20, 2024 21:40:42 GMT -5 sent said:

I’m nervous to ask on my local group who the parents are that would support me in not giving their kids a phone in 6th grade. I know I have to do it. I’ll either find my people or be pinned as a forever uncool mom.

Or just do you! There will be so many opportunities to be the uncool mom, don't worry.

I agree. Just do what is best for your family and don’t worry about others. While we have made the same decision as you, I wouldn’t pipe up on a large group “Hey! Who else isn’t giving their kids a phone?” post. I don’t know who is posing the question and why…and often that’s laced with a lot of judgement of/from both sides. There’s just no real benefit from it. There are lots of reasons that kids have phones and lots of ways for them to have phones. None of it is my business, and none of it changes my decision on what is best for my family.

There’s a good chance the kids without phones (or the ones who just use them sparingly) will find each other because they’re the kids looking for something to do/someone to talk to before/after school when the kids with phone are catching up on what they “missed” while they were in school.

[sent]

Jun 21, 2024 0:09:25 GMT -5 lilac05 said:

Jun 20, 2024 23:40:43 GMT -5 lostrn said:

Or just do you! There will be so many opportunities to be the uncool mom, don't worry.

I agree. Just do what is best for your family and don’t worry about others. While we have made the same decision as you, I wouldn’t pipe up on a large group “Hey! Who else isn’t giving their kids a phone?” post. I don’t know who is posing the question and why…and often that’s laced with a lot of judgement of/from both sides. There’s just no real benefit from it. There are lots of reasons that kids have phones and lots of ways for them to have phones. None of it is my business, and none of it changes my decision on what is best for my family.

There’s a good chance the kids without phones (or the ones who just use them sparingly) will find each other because they’re the kids looking for something to do/someone to talk to before/after school when the kids with phone are catching up on what they “missed” while they were in school.

The only reason I thought of it is that when these discussions have come up in the past, moms comment that they want to find the others so we can support each other to stay strong.

[wanderingback]

Thank you joy for the summary! (And others for the links).
All that sounds very reasonable.

[fancynewbeesly]

One thing I get frustrated at is most of the kids apps are free with a ton of ads. And the ones that are paid apps are subscription ones. I have no problem paying 5 or 10 dollars for an app. However I am not paying that per week.

It really limits the choices of what apps we allow.

[lilac05]

sent, I get it! And it does help to have others who have similar mindsets on tech use. I think it’s better/easier to find them through your kids. Low tech kids tend to find each other, in my experience.

[ssmjlm]

Jun 20, 2024 10:23:39 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Jun 20, 2024 10:01:13 GMT -5 neverfstop said:

CA Gov Gavin Newsom Calls for school ban

Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2024/06/18/us/california-newsom-smartphone-ban.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1E0.WMOX.yx5K3--UD7Y9&smid=url-share

I couldn’t believe that in a post on ML there were parents of middle schoolers and high schoolers who said their teachers assumed their kids had smart phones and make them use apps for assisgnments during class. So problematic!

I think because it became the norm during Covid, no one ever stopped to think it would be an issue now. An app was always the suggestion when I asked for other resources because we got one packet (to print at home) on Monday she finished in less than 10mins.

I even mentioned the heavy reliance on their chromebooks in 5th grade during conferences and didn't get much in the way of trying to prevent usage. And kids can access a ton of crap on those things. 

[pixy0stix]

I think the education system has a lot going on that leads to over-reliance on technology. Underfunded teachers (which leads to not enough teachers), underfunded schools, no parental support other than to bitch, state testing pressure, etc. While also dealing with screen addicted kids who can't focus for shit because of what the parents allow at home.

[neverfstop]

Cellphones, social media to be banned in Los Angeles public schools
www.axios.com/2024/06/18/la-schools-vote-to-ban-cell-phones-during-school-day

[erbear]

Jun 21, 2024 9:12:23 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I think the education system has a lot going on that leads to over-reliance on technology. Underfunded teachers (which leads to not enough teachers), underfunded schools, no parental support other than to bitch, state testing pressure, etc. While also dealing with screen addicted kids who can't focus for shit because of what the parents allow at home.

This is accurate. I've said it on here before: the last 5 years in the classroom have been astonishing for me. I am doing a completely different job with a completely different student and parent population. My classes are so slow now. I cut out full units. I hand hold everything. I can't do an activity that requires sustained attention for more than 10-15 minutes without sitting with groups and keeping them on task.

I know the pandemic is responsible for a huge chunk of this (I'm starting to get middle schoolers who were in kindergarten and 1st grade online...which is a shitshow in and of itself) but I think screen time is a huge component. The best thing my school ever did was make kids turn in their phones at the start of the day. We keep them all day, until 3PM. They still have access to their chromebooks but 1) they aren't allowed to use them at lunch and 2) most of us are making a concerted effort to use them as little as possible. We need to do our part to break them of this. They are addicts. It's scary to watch.

[melmaria]

WSJ: Instagram Recommends Sexual Videos to Accounts for 13-Year-Olds, Tests Show www.wsj.com/tech/instagram-recommends-sexual-videos-to-accounts-for-13-year-olds-tests-show-b6123c65?st=r1rtba3w68wmc9h&reflink=share_mobilewebshare

“Instagram regularly recommends sexual videos to accounts for teenagers that appear interested in racy content, and does so within minutes of when they first log in, according to tests by The Wall Street Journal and an academic researcher.

The tests, run over seven months ending in June, show that the social-media service has continued pushing adult-oriented content to minors after parent Meta Platforms said in January that it was giving teens a more age-appropriate experience by restricting what it calls sensitive content including sexually suggestive material.”

[melmaria]

Jun 21, 2024 9:28:27 GMT -5 neverfstop said:

Cellphones, social media to be banned in Los Angeles public schools
www.axios.com/2024/06/18/la-schools-vote-to-ban-cell-phones-during-school-day

I’m in a working group to try to make this happen in my district. It is a huge uphill battle, mostly because of parents.

[melmaria]

And another great long form article this week - Rolling Stone's "Inside Snapchat's Teen Opioid Crisis"

www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/inside-snapchat-teenage-opioid-crisis-1235036691/

"Between 2019 and 2021, the number of teen deaths from fentanyl tripled — and the driver of that plague, per the cops and feds I talked to, was fake pills sold online. Phony opioids that looked like Oxycontins but were cut with fentanyl, not oxycodone; bogus Xanax but with fentanyl, not alprazolam, on board. Name any pharmaceutical with a foothold on campus — Adderall, Valium, Suboxone, what-have-you — and it was instantly available via social media and delivered to your door like Papa John’s.

The folks compounding those pills weren’t pharm-school grads. They were cartel adjuncts or lost-soul dropouts with a storage unit and a pill press. And whether their fentanyl came from Mexico or directly from China, they were everywhere and nowhere at once: invisible on the street but ubiquitous online; and many were hawking poison disguised as pharma drugs over Snapchat.

Meanwhile, no one seemed to be doing a damn thing about it. The DEA didn’t launch its first PSA alert until the fall of 2021, and local cops walked away, or made half-hearted searches of a deceased kid’s phone for actionable links to the dealer. Those links were long gone, though, scrubbed minutes or hours after the last exchange between seller and buyer. That, Neville learned, was why the dealers had moved to Snapchat: It was effectively a safe space for them. All forensics vanished within 24 hours, wiped clean by the delete function of the app. That wasn’t a bug but a feature of Snap, the code choice that sent its fortunes soaring and marked it out from its social media rivals. On TikTok and Instagram, your DMs and photos largely lived till you deleted them, one by one. On Snap, it was the reverse: Everything turned to smoke unless you manually saved it to your account.

This was manna for kids, who could text (or sext) each other without fear of their parents’ prying eyes. But that disappearing ink was a godsend for dealers too — a chance to sell narcotics and leave no breadcrumbs for the cops and feds to follow. This made all the difference to fake-pill pushers, whose product was as lethal as it was deceptive. Two milligrams of fentanyl — think 10 grains of salt — would asphyxiate a teen in his bed. Why fentanyl? Because it’s so plentiful and potent that you can produce a fake Oxy for less than five cents a pill — and sell that pill to kids for $30. Dealers, as a rule, don’t try to kill their clients, but with fentanyl, it’s the cost of doing business. No home cook can process a batch of “Xanax” without peppering chunks of fentanyl in the mix. Those chunks get pressed into the random pill — or half-pill, as sometimes happens. I know of one kid who split a “Percocet” with his girlfriend, then suffocated while she slept soundly. Per the latest report from the DEA, roughly 70 percent of the fake pills seized by agents contain fatal doses of fenty. For every pill they flag, though, many more get through and wind up for sale online."