ukpol
my mum was a teaching assistant until recently & saw plenty of problematic social media usage among kids under 13 first hand so she knows the issues very well & would be receptive to measures to genuinely address them
she also watches the BBC where the case for a ban has been strongly pushed
ukpol
so what does she think? great and much needed move Mr Starmer? LOL no
she thinks a ban is completely the wrong thing to do, won't work, has been massively rushed through, and the focus should be on regulating the companies and platforms rather than trying to force kids and teens off them
she had not heard about the curfew for 16/17s and actually laughed at how fucking stupid it was when I told her
ukpol
i'm bringing this up not just to brag that my mum has good politics but to highlight this is the reaction of someone who spent most of her life working with kids, who knows damn well what the problems are, gets her news from pro-ban sources & isn't a tech enthusiast - even she thinks it sucks
ukpol
so it might be easy to dismiss my opposition as being just some childless online weirdo, of course HE thinks there shouldn't be internet restrictions
but then you have someone like my mum who's the polar opposite of an online weirdo & has reached the same conclusion from first hand experience
ukpol
cos I do appreciate I have my own perspective and biases - I'm someone who grew up with computers and the internet & am still heavily embedded in that world, I care about the rights and wellbeing of young people especially queer and isolated ones but do not have kids myself and do not work with them