New York's Social Media Ban for Kids Is Totally the Right Thing to Do

It looks like kids will finally get some protection from the worst of the internet.

New York wants to ban kids from accessing "addictive feeds" without parental consent, and other states are doing the same kind of thing, protecting kids from social media and making it illegal for companies like Facebook to collect data from kids' accounts and activities. And it's about time. After all, we have laws to protect kids from alcohol, we don't let children drive cars, or watch R-rated movies. Why should the internet be any different?

"The harms of excessive social media to kids run the gamut—disrupted sleep from nighttime scrolling, perpetual body image and self-esteem issues, cyberbullying, less focus on in-person socializing needed for developing empathy. Many young people struggle with anxiety, depression, and in some cases, even self-harm, which has been troublingly linked to unhealthy social media habits and overuse," Jennie Lannette Bedsworth, a contributor to Start Here Parents! and a licensed clinical social worker and behavioral therapist, told Lifewire via email.

Addictive Feeds

Just what is an addictive feed? According to the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act, it's another term for the algorithmic feeds that social media companies use to keep us annoyed, and therefore forever engaged, with their platforms. New York's legislation, just signed into law by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, is to protect the mental health of children and also to stop them from staying up all night on their phones.

The problem is real. Anyone who has spent any time at all on social media knows this intuitively. It's designed to keep us coming back, filling our feeds with empty, addictive junk, rage-bait. This, combined with our inexplicable tendency to follow folks who fake their amazingly perfect lives, makes for a damaging addiction, and we're adults who should know better. Kids, in the most intense and vulnerable part of their development, have no chance.

"Research indicates that teens who spend 3 or more hours daily on social media experience depression and anxiety at double the rate of teens who spend less than 3 hours daily on social media," licensed therapist and education expert Tracee Perryman, PhD told Lifewire via email. "Children age 11 and under using Instagram or Snapchat are more likely to engage in problem behaviors online and are more likely to engage on inappropriate sites. In one study, nearly half of girls ages 13-17 reported that social media made them feel worse about their bodies."

Parental Advisory

But is this the government's job? Shouldn't we leave this work to parents? Or teachers? There are a few good arguments against that idea. One is that we don't leave other harmful or dangerous activities in the hands of parents. As mentioned above, we have no problems with the law protecting kids from booze and tobacco. There's an age of consent to protect teens from sexual predators, children can't drive cars or watch adult movies, and so on. Using the law to protect kids is well-established and good.

Then there's the fact that parents and teachers are just not equipped to deal with this problem.

"If we leave management of addictive feeds to parents, we are assuming that parents are fully informed of the dangers of social media algorithms. We are also assuming that parents have the capacity to monitor their children the entire time they are out of school. This leaves the children of parents who work non-traditional hours extremely vulnerable, particularly when those same parents may give their children phones for safety and security purposes during those non-traditional work hours. It is unfair to bombard teachers with an additional responsibility above and beyond educating our nation's children. Further, teachers do not have the capacity to regulate addictive feed use out[side] of school hours," says Dr. Perryman.

Targeting social media like this is a smart move because it lets kids keep using phones for other purposes.

"It's important that older teenagers learn to use smartphones because they are a key component of the way our society communicates, works, and socializes. That said, it's our responsibility to provide them with a gradual, safe, developmentally appropriate introduction to these types of technologies," Rupa Robbins, Ph.D, a licensed psychologist who specializes in children and adolescents, told Lifewire via email.

If nothing else, it's going to stop arguments between kids and their parents. Or at least, it will stop some of them. If algorithmic feeds are banned altogether, then it's just one less thing for parents to have to worry about.

Update 06/24/2024: Updated source biographical information in paragraph 3.