PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
A shocked kid wondering who should protect him. Tech companies or his parents Credit/Bess Hamiti
The
United States senators want the leading technology Companies such as, Meta,
TikTok, X formerly Twitter, and Snapchat among others. To build fences on their
digital properties. The fences are meant to prevent children from crossing to
the other side, which is considered dangerous. The Senate Judiciary Committee
summoned five executives from Meta, X, TikTok, Snapchat, and Discord to appear
before it on January 31, 2024. The objective of the summon was to establish the
commitment of these CEOs to protect children from exploitation, predation, and
mental health harms they encounter while using their applications. Senators wanted
to know if, Mark Zuckerberg, Linda Yaccarino, Shou Zi Chew, Evan Spiegel, and
Jason Citron will support any Internet safety bills the senate intends to pass.
United
State Senators want to pass bills among them, the Kids Online Safety Act
(KOSA). These big techs have been accused of serious crimes against the child.
Meta the parent Company of Facebook was in a hot seat during the hearing. Meta
has been accused of owning addictive applications, which make it difficult for
kids to stop using once they are logged in. These addictive applications,
eventually affect mental health of children negatively. The giant tech also
stands accused of neglect. According to senators, Meta does not protect
children from exploitation. New Mexico in particular, has also accused Meta of
promoting accounts, which belong to minors to predators. In fact, for these
sins, Mark Zuckerberg who was present during the hearing was called upon by
senator Josh Hawley of Missouri to apologize to the families, and parents who
had lost their children as a result of using social media.
It
is indeed, true that social media impacts the health of users negatively. It is
also important to mention here that; it is not just children who end up with
mental health issues or even death. Adults too are impacted with social media.
However, adults have advantage over kids. They can make objective decisions to
walk away from things that do not serve them well. But when it comes to minors,
they are not only less objective but also vulnerable to any form of
exploitation. Therefore,
by the United States opening up a conversation about social media and health is
a step in the right direction. Personally, I join other voices, which have
lauded the move taken by the Senate Judiciary Committee to summon leaders from
popular social media platforms to account for their sins and talk about next
steps.
Society
needs these types of conversations, especially when the safety of children is
at stake. However, there is a delicate balance. Children and free flow of
information are at the center. Therefore, to navigate the thin line between
keeping children safe online, and allowing the same children to access
information requires Solomonic wisdom. Children must be protected at all cost.
And information too should freely flow to serve its purpose in society. It is a
thin line for both legislatures and parents. How this line will not be blurred
is a wait and see matter. But again, there is an elephant in the room. There is
a form of misrepresentation when big tech companies are pitted against parents.
Everyone should understand very clearly that it is not the responsibility of
social media companies or owners to protect children.
Social
media executives just like the bigger society have a collective duty of care to
their users. Legally, they could be held responsible if, someone gets hurt on
their platforms. However, when it comes to the nitty-gritties of protection and
safety, full responsibility lies with parents not big tech companies. Parents
are supposed to protect their children from harm. They are the first line of
defense for their children. Therefore, the most important question we all need
to ask ourselves is, how do children slip out of the first line of defense and
find themselves on the internet? What are parents doing that has taken
attention away from children? Because for sure, there is a gap that has been
left empty, and the internet seems to be filling it so well. Parents must stop
being absent in the lives of their children. They need to step up on their due
diligence role, and shape their children.
And
by saying that does not necessarily mean that this writer is exonerating
anyone. We also must admit that children face specific challenges by the mere
fact of being children. They are young and lack the reasoning mind. As such,
anything can be good to them. Second challenge. Children are not objective.
They do not have the capacity to discern between danger and normal. This is
where exploitation, and manipulation catch up with them. Further, there is also
the challenge of false expectations, and pressure from friends. The pressure
sometimes, push most children to make bad decisions. For example, the bad
decision of being where everyone and their best friend is hanging out. Some
children go to the internet to find validation. They want to belong and be seen
by their peers as tech-savvy.
However,
behind those cleverness and savviness is fear. Some children do not want to be
left on the sidelines. They want to be at the center of all the craziness of
social media. And when these children begin to slip away gradually, the first
line of defense is usually nowhere to be seen. Parents need to talk to their
children, and tell them that they are enough. Parents should tell their
children that they do not need to do anything extra to be accepted. Parents
also need to tell their children that they love them, and that the children are
their first priority. It is not just enough to talk. Parents should follow up
these talks by being present in the lives of their children, especially
teenagers. Some children suffer from attention deficit. They think that, they
need other people to acknowledge them. As a result, some children want to be
the loudest person in the room.
And
social media happens to be the place to achieve that, and more. A child cannot
be craving for attention if the first line of defense has done his/her job
right. When children grow a little bit. And they are now in high-school or
junior high-school, they are no longer little children. They see some things,
and learn about others from friends, and even their environment. Proper
parenting is needed at this critical stage of their lives. Children want
privacy, respect, and independence. They want to put their voices on certain
things. Parents need to appreciate the changes that are taking place, and
level-up their parenting skills. Teenagers are no longer little children who
will listen and obey every instruction. Some will want to challenge their
parents. This is when parents need to open up discussions on difficult subjects
among them use of social media.
Mom
and dad or just mom or just dad, need to stop leaning too much on punishment,
and start listening. Parents need to pay attention to what their children are
saying or not saying. Preteens, and typical teenagers have petulant attitudes.
Parents need to pay attention to these attitudes. Sometimes, when a teenager’s
attitude starts showing up, parents should not interpret such attitudes as an
invitation for a fight. Instead, parents need to remain as parents, and offer
direction. They should guide, and correct with empathy, love, and wisdom. There
are so many things that children want or do. And 90 percent of them do not
require punishment, some need open conversations. Social media is an integral
part of every living human being right now. Parents need to teach their
children how to integrate social media in their lives safely.
The
responsibility that the United States Judiciary Committee has put on the
shoulders of big tech companies is way too much for them. Social media owners
are not responsible for their user’s behavior online. They are not responsible
for keeping children safe online. In fact, there is a threshold of who should
be on social media and who should not. Children have not attained the age of 18
years; which many social media sites require for someone to own an account on
their platforms. Therefore, how children find themselves online, is yet another
question we need to answer. Social media is just the digital version of our
traditional society. There are problems in every corner of the traditional
society. Children get hurt in a typical society. Predators deliberately target
them with the intention to harm.
No
one has so far dragged or summoned the traditional society to a hearing. To
explain why it has exposed women and children to aggressive cultural practices,
which dehumanize and leave them traumatized. Big tech companies can be the best
scapegoat because they offer visual platforms. These platforms reflect the ills
of the traditional society in the clearest manner. Predators have migrated
their habits offline to online. Social media companies can do so much by
building those fences that everyone wants to see. However, when all is said and
done, everyone needs to understand that, social media sites were designed for a
specific role. And that role is not to keep children or anyone safe. But what remains
as the biggest fact is, parents were designed to protect their children. And
there should be no confusion about it. Parents and senate should not pass
responsibility to other people simply because children spend time in their rooms.
Let us address the elephant in the room.
.webp)
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