RE: https://mas.to/@gabrielesvelto/117235800740913155
When talking about screen time and teens we should also blame the rest of society for not providing better options. If going to the bowling arcade with friends is too expensive, the skate park is poorly maintained, they aren’t welcome to loiter at the mall and the public transport to get all those places sucks anyway, what are they going to do that doesn’t involve screens?
I hate with a passion any kind of reporting that describes problems among teenagers as caused by "screen time". It depicts it as some kind of flaw among young people who deliberately spend too much time on their phones.
Call it for what it is: abusive practices by a handful of tech corporations. They profit from products deliberately designed to create addiction, and particularly so among children and teenagers.
Stop blaming victims and start blaming the perpetrators.
There’s a gendered angle on youth and screen time I haven’t seen discussed much. Everyone is like OMG young women are getting their self esteem ruined on the internets!!! Okay, well can that tween girl safely travel alone at night to get to the activities she’s interested in? Will she be treated with respect and allowed uniforms she’s comfortable with if she takes up a sport? Can she experiment with fashion that makes her happy without getting leered at by strangers in public? Disappearing into the online world is a logical response by young women in a sexist world