Teens violently and emotionally abused by parents and adults use social media much more than non-abused teens. Social media bans are state-inflicted abuse.
I just came across your substack via your recent comment on Haidt's. For quite some time I've been fascinated by my granddaughter's apparently healthy relationship with her phone. That led me to a project she and I undertook this past summer, which I wrote about here: https://heyscott.substack.com/p/n-of-1 It's completely anecdotal, but it touches on some of the things you write about, and you might enjoy it.
Great essay. Today's panickers totally overlook that Gen Z is rapidly adapting to social media and the dynamic possibilities the internet offers. Yes, there remain individuals (both teen and adult) who have problems elsewhere in their lives and also have trouble with social media. They deserve individual help. But the vast majority of people of all ages should be left alone.
It won't be long before they will say even 18 is too young. Make it 19 to "keep it out of the high schools", perhaps. Oh wait, nevermind, make it 21 then. Or even 25 or 30! Natch. But wait, we actually have a natural experiment on those who didn't get access to smartphones or social media until well into their twenties, due to the fact that these technologies simply hadn't been invented yet. They are called Elder Millennials, aka my own generation. And how did we end up faring as a result? Not very well, it seems, if the statistics are any indication. The best advice we Elder Millennials can give to Gen Z, Alpha, and beyond is, "don't be like us".
Probably the strongest argument against age-gating is literally my own generation (Elder Millennials). We didn't gain access to smartphones and social media until we were much older, generally early to mid-20s or older, when our brains were ostensibly "fully developed", because these technologies simply didn't exist yet. And how did we turn out now that we are 40 or close to it? Spoiler alert: not very well, if the statistics are any indication. We luuurrrrve to criticize our Boomer parents, but it looks like the apple isn't falling that far from the tree. And we luuurrrrve to self-righteously criticize Gen Z, but compared to us and every previous generation alive today, they really aren't so bad.
Very good, adding some legal background to Australia's debacle. I would add that the much more responsible behaviors of today's teens merit a transitional age of adulthood beginning at 14-16 rather than 18. When I was growing up in Oklahoma, "3.2 bars" serving beer and light wine allowed 18-year-olds in, and in practice IDs were not checked, so the effective age was 16 -- and also for beer purchases in groceries. My analyses of the 3.2 era showed it was much safer transitional system, see: https://www.cjhp.org/Volume6_2008/Issue2/Males.pdf
Thank you! Indeed, I remember reading that study of yours many years ago. Excellent work. I will note that Miron and Tetelbaum (2009) found that the supposed lifesaving effect of raising the drinking age to 21 was essentially a mirage, and was driven by a temporary effect from a few voluntarily early adopting states, while for the federally coerced adopting states, the effect was inconsequential or even perverse. And interestingly, when that same study also broke it down by age limit beverage type, it found that was inconsequential as well.
In other words, since the 3.2 states and other graduated age states were nearly always federally coerced to raise it to 21 as opposed to voluntarily, your findings may very well have been driven by that. Either way, raising the drinking age to 21 was a big mistake.
I believe the full legal drinking age should be lowered to 18, full stop. And we are to have a graduated drinking age, it should begin *before* 18 like it is in many European countries.
I agree that the transition to adulthood should begin at 14-16, and the end of that transition should be no later than 18. So perhaps we could have 14-16 for "conditional release" from most age restrictions, and 18 for final release from all age restrictions.
And I would add that the pandemic lockdown-induced developmental delays for Gen Alpha would make it even *more urgent* to release restrictions sooner than later, to mitigate the damage, and we must resist all temptation to raise any age limits any higher.
As for tech, I agree that it would be best to introduce kids to it the same way Europeans introduce their kids to alcohol. Otherwise, merely delaying the age of onset only kicks the proverbial can down the road. Failing that, though, even for those who were not introduced gradually, more restrictions will still do more harm than good.
And to those cowardly appeasers who are smug about the age limit being "only" 16 (for now), and are happily rolling over for this agenda, just wait. Mark my words, it will NOT end there, and it WILL backfire only YOU as well. To paraphrase Sir Winston Churchill, if you feed others to crocodiles in the hopes that you will be eaten last, your hopes will still ultimately be in vain. History may not always repeat itself, but it sure as hell does rhyme.
Indeed, those who are pushing such an illiberal and adult supremacist agenda are spewing some grade-A gaslighting, projection, and sometimes even full-blown DARVO as well towards young people. Anything so the (chronological) "adults" in charge don't have to honestly look in the mirror, as I would hazard a guess that they would NOT like what they see.
I just came across your substack via your recent comment on Haidt's. For quite some time I've been fascinated by my granddaughter's apparently healthy relationship with her phone. That led me to a project she and I undertook this past summer, which I wrote about here: https://heyscott.substack.com/p/n-of-1 It's completely anecdotal, but it touches on some of the things you write about, and you might enjoy it.
Great essay. Today's panickers totally overlook that Gen Z is rapidly adapting to social media and the dynamic possibilities the internet offers. Yes, there remain individuals (both teen and adult) who have problems elsewhere in their lives and also have trouble with social media. They deserve individual help. But the vast majority of people of all ages should be left alone.
Amen
Excellent essay. Very well-said.
Amen
Huh, this is an interesting perspective I had never come across, thank you.
It won't be long before they will say even 18 is too young. Make it 19 to "keep it out of the high schools", perhaps. Oh wait, nevermind, make it 21 then. Or even 25 or 30! Natch. But wait, we actually have a natural experiment on those who didn't get access to smartphones or social media until well into their twenties, due to the fact that these technologies simply hadn't been invented yet. They are called Elder Millennials, aka my own generation. And how did we end up faring as a result? Not very well, it seems, if the statistics are any indication. The best advice we Elder Millennials can give to Gen Z, Alpha, and beyond is, "don't be like us".
(Mic drop)
Probably the strongest argument against age-gating is literally my own generation (Elder Millennials). We didn't gain access to smartphones and social media until we were much older, generally early to mid-20s or older, when our brains were ostensibly "fully developed", because these technologies simply didn't exist yet. And how did we turn out now that we are 40 or close to it? Spoiler alert: not very well, if the statistics are any indication. We luuurrrrve to criticize our Boomer parents, but it looks like the apple isn't falling that far from the tree. And we luuurrrrve to self-righteously criticize Gen Z, but compared to us and every previous generation alive today, they really aren't so bad.
I wrote an article on my own blog referencing yours as well:
https://21debunked.blogspot.com/2024/12/australia-has-fallen.html
Very good, adding some legal background to Australia's debacle. I would add that the much more responsible behaviors of today's teens merit a transitional age of adulthood beginning at 14-16 rather than 18. When I was growing up in Oklahoma, "3.2 bars" serving beer and light wine allowed 18-year-olds in, and in practice IDs were not checked, so the effective age was 16 -- and also for beer purchases in groceries. My analyses of the 3.2 era showed it was much safer transitional system, see: https://www.cjhp.org/Volume6_2008/Issue2/Males.pdf
Thank you! Indeed, I remember reading that study of yours many years ago. Excellent work. I will note that Miron and Tetelbaum (2009) found that the supposed lifesaving effect of raising the drinking age to 21 was essentially a mirage, and was driven by a temporary effect from a few voluntarily early adopting states, while for the federally coerced adopting states, the effect was inconsequential or even perverse. And interestingly, when that same study also broke it down by age limit beverage type, it found that was inconsequential as well.
In other words, since the 3.2 states and other graduated age states were nearly always federally coerced to raise it to 21 as opposed to voluntarily, your findings may very well have been driven by that. Either way, raising the drinking age to 21 was a big mistake.
I believe the full legal drinking age should be lowered to 18, full stop. And we are to have a graduated drinking age, it should begin *before* 18 like it is in many European countries.
I agree that the transition to adulthood should begin at 14-16, and the end of that transition should be no later than 18. So perhaps we could have 14-16 for "conditional release" from most age restrictions, and 18 for final release from all age restrictions.
And I would add that the pandemic lockdown-induced developmental delays for Gen Alpha would make it even *more urgent* to release restrictions sooner than later, to mitigate the damage, and we must resist all temptation to raise any age limits any higher.
As for tech, I agree that it would be best to introduce kids to it the same way Europeans introduce their kids to alcohol. Otherwise, merely delaying the age of onset only kicks the proverbial can down the road. Failing that, though, even for those who were not introduced gradually, more restrictions will still do more harm than good.
And look, they are doubling down yet again.
https://www.afterbabel.com/p/scott-galloway-explains-why-age-gating
And to those cowardly appeasers who are smug about the age limit being "only" 16 (for now), and are happily rolling over for this agenda, just wait. Mark my words, it will NOT end there, and it WILL backfire only YOU as well. To paraphrase Sir Winston Churchill, if you feed others to crocodiles in the hopes that you will be eaten last, your hopes will still ultimately be in vain. History may not always repeat itself, but it sure as hell does rhyme.
Indeed, those who are pushing such an illiberal and adult supremacist agenda are spewing some grade-A gaslighting, projection, and sometimes even full-blown DARVO as well towards young people. Anything so the (chronological) "adults" in charge don't have to honestly look in the mirror, as I would hazard a guess that they would NOT like what they see.
Amen to that, Mike. Shout it from the rooftops!