Worth Reading – Teen Social Media Bans Miss the Point
It’s from MIT; maybe we should pay attention
Teens use social media in a dizzying array of ways — to connect with friends and family, enjoy entertainment, get information, play games, create content, and organize movements. While social media can be weaponized for bullying or hate, over half of all teens turn to social media as a source of social and emotional support. Research has consistently found that marginalized teens have a higher risk of encountering negative online content, but also benefit the most from online connection and digital self-help. For example, education researcher Tiera Tanksley’s scholarship describes how difficult it is for Black girls to avoid images of Black death and dying online, but also how they proactively seek out Black joy, laughter, and healing.
https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/teen-social-media-bans-miss-the-point/
Later, the author discusses something they call “adult saviorism.” The tendency for adults to see something as dangerous for teens and ban it without regard for nuance. It reminded me a lot of what happened over the last few generations regarding being outdoors unsupervised. There were dangers to that. I know; I was robbed at 15 while walking with a friend from school to the nearest city bus stop. I was bullied in my neighborhood; there were all kinds of bad things that happened. It makes me nervous to think about kids being unsupervised, but I’ve also started to see what’s happened in recent generations who never learned to navigate social situations on their own, work in groups, or use their imagination as they explore the world around them.
The problem wasn’t trying to keep kids safer by limiting the time they spent away from home unsupervised; it was not giving them alternative ways to build the same connections and skills. When I read about social media bans, I have the same question. How are we replacing the connections to friends, family, supportive communities, and educational information? Because if we aren’t, we’ll protect them from one thing and create other issues.
If not social media, then where?
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