Recently my nan and I were having dinner in a restaurant. We drank, laughed and ate as we discussed life when she noticed something: the mother and daughter next to us hadn’t exchanged a single word. Instead the pair were glued to their electronics, only looking up to eat.
This represents how Gen-Alpha children are surgically attached to their iPads. Going to the shop? A five-year-old blasting Italian brainrot. Taking a nice walk in the park? A seven-year-old playing on their mum’s phone. Eating dinner at a restaurant? A four-year-old playing on their iPad while the mum scrolls on Instagram. They’re so annoying that many Gen-Zers have pledged to not let an iPad within a 50 mile radius of their future children.
Anti-iPad rhetoric stems partially from the rise in misogyny; 73 per cent of Gen-Z social media users have witnessed misogynistic content online with less than half feeling that social media is a safe space, leading to 20 per cent leaving platforms altogether. Children who don’t understand dating are being exposed to high value men and women, body counts and investing.
In the face of rising misogyny, more countries are banning social media for under-16s with the UK possibly following suit. Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, said “We know parents everywhere are grappling with how much screen time their children should have, when they should give them a phone, what they are seeing online, and the impact all of this is having. This is why we’re asking children and parents to take part in this landmark consultation on how young people can thrive in an age of rapid technological change”.
However, it’s unlikely that the day after this ban we’ll look out our windows and see streets full of children riding bikes and playing football. Misogyny and loneliness are systemic issues amplified by social media, banning it won’t make it go away. There is still a lack of hard evidence on the effects of social media on mental health with the University of Manchester failing to find a link, leading to children’s charities questioning what will happen to children who didn’t grow up on social media once they’re let loose on platforms after turning 16.
How do we fix this? Prof Etchells, a psychology professor at Bath Spa University, suggests that uplifting screentime is the answer and that a ban gives technology the “forbidden fruit” effect. Zoe Kleinman corroborates this by questioning how this disadvantages non-tech savvy children who may struggle in an increasingly online world.
If you give your child too much screentime, you have a mindless zombie on your hands, too little and they end up unemployed at 30 struggling to make a word document. Both extremes are problematic and lead to a dysfunctional adult, what we need is more change within society rather than blanket bans that ignore the misogyny and loneliness at the heart of these issues.
Photo by Emily Wade on Unsplash.