← Back to context

Comment by Carrok

4 days ago

Are you implying that children need social media to develop competency and communication skills?

If all of your peers are talking about the stuff they saw on YouTube, but you’re not allowed to, this will naturally make you an outcast in that topic. Now, if almost everything they talk about in the internet, and you cannot relate to it at all, it will hinder your interpersonal skills, because you just don’t talk to your peers.

I hate how we got here, but watching my nephews go through this stuff made me realize you can’t cut the kids off completely. Ideally, you would live in a community where all parents have agreed on the social media limits, and slowly get the kids see how others function through it as well.

  • >I hate how we got here, but watching my nephews go through this stuff made me realize you can’t cut the kids off completely.

    Mine are turning out fine. I don't want them to be like those other children, and I've kept them away from those children. Doesn't seem to have been a problem.

    >Ideally, you would live in a community where all parents have agreed on the social media limits,

    This is a matter of who you choose to socialize/fraternize with, not one of geography. But if you opt for public school, then you have no real choice in the matter.

    • Congratulations, you're raising future disgruntled outcast class of people who are not integrated with the society.

      The next step is some canny asshole will take advantage of these people by selling them on their superiority or offering community, and radicalize them.

      It's happened many times.

      13 replies →

    • > Mine are turning out fine. I don't want them to be like those other children, and I've kept them away from those children. Doesn't seem to have been a problem.

      To each their own. I personally grew up with the idea of "try to be around all different types of people as I will encounter people from different walks of life, just don't be an idiot". I think, it made me a better person and I pride myself in my ability of getting along with most people. One day, I would want the same for my kids, and hope at that point we would resolve the social media issues.

  • > If all of your peers are talking about the stuff they saw on YouTube, but you’re not allowed to, this will naturally make you an outcast in that topic.

    There were plenty of kids when I was in school who were not allowed to watch TV. Like at all.

    The real problem is that kids also socialize online now so you can't talk about "that time you hung out at McDonalds" because everyone was sitting at home on their phone instead.

    • > There were plenty of kids when I was in school who were not allowed to watch TV. Like at all.

      The kids I knew like this were definitely ostracized for that. Hell, even kids that didn't have _cable_ were usually seen as a little weird.

    • Yeah, I remember the kids who were not allowed to watch TV, although they missed out on some peer-discussions, at least there were other stuff that everyone was involved in. And the kids that were not allowed to do anything (no internet, no TV, no games, no running outside around), well, I genuinely don't know how, as a kid, I could find anything in common with them. I really hope they're doing well, but I wouldn't want to be them at that time.

      I agree with your second point, the problem is there is one and only one avenue of doing things, and that's online (for most of the kids at least).

  • The solution is always to get different peers. If you're surrounded by bad influences, fitting in or not fitting in are both bad options.