Comment on It's becoming widely accepted that it's not safe to put pictures of your children on social media... (cont. in post)

TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

• wesker@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  Don’t restrict marginalised children from finding support and community online when their in person “support system” is harming them What are the statistics on this, and how many children actually find a healthy support system online, versus more harm?

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  • cynar@lemmy.world ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    The modern world has made it so that teenagers have nowhere to “exist” without paying. Even hanging out on the road gets the police called on them.

    Many have moved to online communities. At that point the line between social media and game are quite blurry. Is a Minecraft server a game, or a way of having fun with your friends?

    As someone who “found my tribe” online, long before I found them in real life, I understand where the woods are coming from. Even for adults, the modern world has become VERY socially isolating.

    It’s also not just bad households. A lot of families now have 2 working parents. This leaves very little time for arranging playdates, or giving lifts to friends. Kids supplement their lost social time with online time. Some end up in toxic communities, but most flow through it with years of experience at this point.

    I watched a talk on internet safety for children (as a parent/guardian). One of the biggest bits of advice was to stay involved. Play the games they love, even if they bore you. Let them talk about their online friendship groups. You can then help guide them towards good choices, rather than deal with the fallout from bad ones compounding.

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  • BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    The internet didn’t exist when I was a kid. If it had, I would likely have found a way to escape my abusive parents much earlier. Saying that, I am also an strong-willed, stubborn autistic person, so I may not represent the average person.

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    • GreenBeard@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      There’s a lot of “Likely would have” comments when this subject comes up, and a lot of second-hand anecdotes that don’t constitute a good basis for decision making. While I’m sure at some point, such support networks have formed, and stayed a major part of an individual’s life, in most cases, without a real grounded, in person network, most of these groups end up collapsing into isolated fragments again or turning into just another ad funnel for garbage that doesn’t actually help anyone, it just monetizes suffering.

      Net good to net harm? There’s a strong case to be made that the marginal benefits of these platforms are deeply outweighed by the enormous suffering they cause.

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      • BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        I found my people and it saved my life. All I am saying is that the internet can make it easier to find your people, even locally. There are programs for queer kids, abused women, and abortion that serve this very purpose. the question is not whether they exist and work, it is whether they are accessible to kids when their own guardians may be the entire problem. Both prongs of this proverbial “making services available” fork are important.

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    • wesker@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      I grew up on the 90s internet. It wasn’t necessarily safe. The biggest difference seems to be that it wasn’t as populated, saturated, and easy for Ye Average Person to get sucked into (or groomed by) harmful communities. They were truly underground. We were hopeful the internet would benefit from (and benefit mankind) via increased accessibility and interoperability, but in retrospect I feel like that was it’s downfall. This is a subjective opinion.

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  • UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Its probably your love for the boot.

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    • wesker@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      What a constructive comment.

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