kinda don't think any conversation on kids and the internet and social media should be allowed to happen without input from someone who would either be incredibly depressed, in a cult, or dead if not for being able to access the internet as a child without being monitored by an adult.
its not that there aren't real concerns that need to be discussed but 1) the problems with social media ultimately stem from the problems with society at large, the root issue as with all issues is capitalist modernity, and 2) If You Do Not Think About Abused Children When You Talk About Giving Adults Permission to Control A Child's Reality, I Am Going To Scream
the MINUTE you take the hierarchy of power along the lines of age out of the conversation on protecting children, you are no longer doing anything new or radical. any move to "protect children" that doesn't explicitly target adult supremacy and connect child abuse to other social issues rooted in hierarchy is, in the grand scheme of things, worthless.
maybe the biggest unspoken boon of the internet is how it has helped dismantle the isolation and intellectual control of youth, especially in this time of growing authoritarianism. is the internet also a cesspit much of the time? yes. but who actually benefits from moves to "protect" children from being online supervised? are children going to be any safer from the most pressing dangers of the world, or are adults going to feel soothed knowing that Childhood Innocence Is Being Guarded From Degeneracy And Corruption?
