Or, You Could Actually Do Some Parenting?

Many parents of digitally obsessed teens must have wished they could bin their smartphones. As evidence mounts about the risks of social media, there is a growing public clamour to protect children better – with some now even calling for a ban.

How many of these parents demanding someone else parent their child have actually bought the things for them, and are paying the airtime?  

The debate in the UK took on a fresh resonance in recent days after Esther Ghey, the mother of the murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, added her voice to those highlighting the dangers of smartphones.

“We’d like a law introduced, so that there are mobile phones that are suitable for under-16s,” she told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg last Sunday. “So if you’re over 16, you can have an adult phone, but then under the age of 16 you can have a children’s phone, which will not have all of the social media apps that are out there now.”

You can already do that now, if you want. Don't allow them to download anything you don't approve. It's just that you have to make the effort.  

In demanding tougher curbs on big tech, she echoed other bereaved parents who believe social media played some role in the loss of their children – including Ian Russell, whose daughter Molly took her own life after viewing harmful content online.

As Longrider points out, the very people who we shouldn't be listening to on the subject. Their personal tragedy gives them no special insight. The experts don't agree with their plans, but who is listening to them? 

Despite the acknowledged dangers, few experts and campaigners the Guardian spoke to believed an outright ban on social media use by under-16s was workable, or even desirable – though all are united in believing tech firms must do more.

Why don't they demand parents do more? They are, after all, the ones with most to lose... 

Lady Beeban Kidron, who campaigns for children’s rights online, said there was understandable focus on removing harmful content from apps – but policymakers should also be focusing on their underlying design.

“What we have to concentrate on is: why are we allowing companies to give addictive products to children? There is no reason on God’s earth that they have to be designed to be addictive. That is a business choice,” she said. “You’ve basically got a faulty product here: they need to fix it.”

That would mean looking under the bonnet of popular apps and rewiring the algorithms blamed for hooking teens – and in some cases, for radicalising them.

Good grief!  

There Are Definitely Consistent Aspects To All These

A series of deeply violent, sinister murders and attacks carried out by children have hit the headlines in recent months. Last week, the 17-year-old boy who stalked and murdered schoolgirl Holly Newton, 15, was found guilty of murder in just the latest youth case to reach the courtroom. From the killing of Brianna Ghey by Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe to that of Shawn Seesahai by two unnamed 12-year-olds, some of Britain's most dreadful crimes have involved shockingly young perpetrators.

Can we find an expert to say that these murderers are the real victims? Reader, of course we can... 

MailOnline spoke to clinical and forensic psychologist and co-host of Locked-Up Living Dr Naomi Murphy about some of the most chilling crimes to go through the UK's courts in recent times. Dr Murphy, who has almost two decades of experience working with some of the country's most dangerous criminals, including teenagers convicted of murder, told MailOnline how those at the heart of such cases are often 'really damaged'.

*sighs* Of course, reading the article, there are other conclusions to draw. 

Just look at the names, where names are known:Bardia Shojaeifard,Cartel Bushnell,Yura Varybrus all sit among classic English names. And gang membership and 'revenge killings' stand out among the rest.

Im no clinical psychologist, so I'm not one to fail to notice what's staring me in the face... 

What About The Harms Done To Them By Parents Like You?

Esther Ghey has called on MPs to vote for an age restriction on social media in the coming weeks, as she accused the government of “kicking the can down the road” with its planned consultation.

Who she? How quickly one forgets, eh, Reader? 

She has previously detailed how she believes her daughter’s social media addiction contributed to her mental health issues, leading her to take risks with her personal safety.

Except she didn’t have a daughter, she had a son. A mentally ill son who believed he was a girl, and who she supported and encouraged in that belief, instead of getting him the help he needed. And now she has the gall to believe anyone should listen to her on this subject:

“Brianna wasn’t alone. We know that there are each day, in England alone, 500 mental health referrals for children and we need to really think what is impacting this, why is there such an increase in mental health issues, why is there an increase in peer and peer violence in schools, why is there a difficulty retaining teachers in schools. 

“We need to move now because as we’re waiting, more and more children are being harmed.”

They are. But not all of them by social media.