Mark Zuckerberg is NOT Everybody's Daddy! (An Opinion Piece)

This is a tech news headline dated October 11, 2021:

• Facebook will 'nudge' teens from harmful content, company executive Nick Clegg said. The company is also set to tell teens to 'take a break' from Instagram, following scrutiny of its platforms. SOURCE: Business Insider ~ https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-instagram-mental-health-kids-nudge-harmful-content-teens-2021-10

Before this headline, a whistleblower had testified before Congress that Facebook and its related social media platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp made kids “suicidal”, especially young teenage girls.

I raised my last teenager. She is in her twenties now. She was not your “typical” teenager. She could care less whether she had a social media account. Whew! She took a lot of pressure off of me!

But I now have a teenage grandchild and I can tell you that based on what I observed … her access to and participation on social media was “unhealthy”. My grandchild has been making videos since she learned how to walk and talk. She was a natural in front of the camera. When she was little, I cautioned her mother about not only allowing her so much freedom to use social media. But also I told my daughter, my grandchild's mother, that it was very irresponsible not to make sure that her child's account was PRIVATE!! I said to my child regarding her child: Have you any idea how many PREDATORS are online??

When my grandchild reached her teenage years, it was really difficult for her mother to try to restrain her usage of social media. But this is what I observed. As long as my grandchild was not interacting online, she was happy. She would listen to music, play with her hair, dance, decorate her bedroom, etc. But I could see a clear change in her behavior when she had been on social media. She became downhearted. When I got my hands on her device and scanned some of the conversations, I could see why her mood changed. Life isn't that different from when I was a kid. Whether kids are on social media or physically face-to-face, they do the same things to each other. Taunt each other. Torment each other. Challenge each other. Dare each other. Try to provoke jealousy or even anger. Try to start fights. Try to make the child feel like they have “something to prove” to their “friends”. Try to make the child feel like or believe that everyone is better than them.

DID YOU KNOW that many parents who are giants in the technology industry … such as Bill Gates and the late Steve Jobs … actually restricted their children's use of technology?

Number 1: They both said overuse of technology was DANGEROUS to young minds.

Number 2: They didn't want their innocent children to become BAIT FOR PREDATORS or FOR OTHERS OUT THERE WITH MALICIOUS INTENT.

Did their kids complain about these limitations? Sure they did! So what! Their parents did what was necessary. Children don't have to AGREE with their parents on everything. But, unless their parents are instructing to do something that is wrong and harmful, they should OBEY them.

I think it's kind of unfair for people to point fingers at Mark Zuckerberg as if he's the one who caused the “problem”.

• First: We've been having problems with our kids committing suicide FOR YEARS. Long before social media came into existence.

• Second: There is NO LAW that requires people to use social media. It is not mandatory for teenage kids to have social media accounts. People who have accounts on any social media platform VOLUNTEERED TO JOIN! One assumes that children who have social media accounts were given permission by their parents to create those accounts.

(Yeah! I know some kids are disobedient and sneak behind their parents' backs and do things their parents don't approve of. But who bought the tech device that the kid is using to access the platforms? In most cases, it was a parent. Since that parent gave them the tech toy, then the parent should monitor their usage. IT'S THEIR PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY AND DUTY!)

I applaud if Mr. Zuckerberg is making any changes to his social media platforms to try steer kids AWAY FROM destructive and even deadly behavior or having a mental breakdown. After all, he's not just an entrepreneur out to make money. He's a social entrepreneur OR sociopreneur who must consider the good of all the people. (“The term sociopreneur refers to a business owner who runs a business based on the influence of the business on society and the environment.” Quote Source)

BUT! Mark Zuckerberg is not Superman and this is not a job for him.

Superman is not even real!

~ Isn't this really a job for PARENTS??

~ Shouldn't it be the parents who are bending over backwards trying to protect their own children?

I am NOT trying to let Mr. Zuckerberg off the hook. But he did not create his social media platform to do bad things to children. Nevertheless, if he knows bad things are happening to children because of his platform, then he needs to accept that responsibility and bend over backwards to make changes to prevent harm and injury.

Mark Zuckerberg can only “nudge” them and try to steer teenagers in the right direction. HOWEVER ... the main responsibility for protecting a child from danger lies with that child's parents. Mark Zuckerberg got his own kids. He's not responsible for raising your kids. Don't try to put all the blame on him!

Just saying. IMHO.

Image credit: Who is a Sociopreneur | Social Entrepreneur

Thanks for reading.

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