This California Bill makes it so a parent can sue for the child’s social addiction.
Meaning apps like TikTok can be sued (yay!)
Despite killing social media apps, it is probably better if there are adjustments to this bill
Purpose
The purpose of the bill is to make kids like Jimmy stop looking at the god damn phone!
In a survey, 92% of college students reported that they text messages during class. Even worse, (which I can not believe,) kids spend between five to seven and a half hours per day.
This addiction is the reason why Jimmy is so depressed! I always wondered why Jimmy never wanted to leave the bed– the phone is to blame!
Plus, there are many others! Not only he is depressed, but he is also distracted, gets 2 hours of sleep per night, gets cyberbullied, and many others!
This, THIS, was the purpose of the bill– to stop the enemy.
As much as it sounds like a good idea, there are downsides
And plus, not everyone is like Jimmy
Problems
Their goal is to stop social media addiction because of its negatives. By placing a large fee, most social media platforms will switch to an age verification process (such as checking I.D)
This will essentially stop most underage people from using social media. Even though it stops most children, that doesn’t mean adults wouldn’t get addicted– in fact, it is probably even worse.
In the U.S, 16-33 million adults are addicted to their phones. The big difference between children and adults is that adults have fewer chances.
For example, Jimmy as a child (before the amendment) is addicted to his phone. As a result, he gets a fat zero on the big test. Jimmy realises his error and fixes it– learning the negatives of the phone.
In another universe, Jimmy waits until he is an adult to get his phone. He becomes addicted, but this time he gets fired for lazy work habits.
In fact, 28% of people get fired for using the internet wrongly. The key difference is that there are more consequences when you are an adult– there are no second chances.
This brings me to the next point, which is that kids learn about the drawbacks. In our education system, we cover topics like digital footprint, cyberbullying, etc. Having the amendment won’t be helpful if kids can not apply their knowledge right now– instead, they are most likely going to forget it after high school.
For example, Jimmy’s job application gets rejected because he posted a picture of himself burning houses. In fact, 18% of job applications are dismissed because of something they posted on social media.
This could be easily avoidable if Jimmy cared about something he uses every day instead of something he does not use. Thus, having social media helps us learn about social media better than not having it.
To recap, their goal is to stop addiction by restricting children from entering their platform. This does not mean adults can’t use social media, which is worse because they have more consequences as well they probably enter the world with no knowledge of their digital footprint, etc.
Is it Realistic?
It is possible for this to happen, but most likely not. As said previously, you can do this by making people show I.D before creating an account (which is honestly insane.)
Even so, many people wouldn’t accept it because (like said) everyone is not Jimmy. We ain’t depressed. Some people can control their usage, and use it to their advantage.
For example, Tommy can use social media to connect with their peer, share his interests, and overall be in a friendly environment. As well, it shouldn’t be the company’s fault but the parent’s negligence.
Jimmy is on his phone every day which can easily be stopped by his parents. Also, many companies wouldn’t like it because it will shrink from the restrictions.
32.5% of TikTok’s accounts are inhabited by 19-year-olds. If there’s a restriction there is a loss in viewers from the restriction as well as the pain of signing in.
My solution
Instead of setting restrictions, I would require the apps to be less addicting. The algorithm shouldn’t recommend personalized posts similar to Instagram, but have the user decide what he wants to see.
For example, Jimmy will only get stuff around gaming. If he likes a lot of posts containing controllers, his feed won’t change at all. This will make it so the user doesn’t keep scrolling… scrolling… and scrolling.
As well, they should have parental controls which makes it so they can set a time limit. If a parent is unhappy about their child’s addiction, they can put a limit. This will make it so that they aren’t on TikTok for 24 hours per day.
As well, they should encourage the user to take a break if they spend too much time on the app. Every one hour and so, they would send a notification to take a break. This will help them to finally put the phone down.
To Recap
The Bill is to stop apps like TikTok (yay) from affecting young minds. However, as great as it sounds, it doesn’t stop adults from getting addicted. This is worse because there are more consequences and they are more naive.
Even so, people won’t allow it for its positive attributes, and companies will lose a lot of viewers due to the restriction.
My solution is that instead of restricting teens, I would make it less addicting by having the user only see what he follows and encouraging/setting breaks.
Thank you for reading