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The challenge

“Video games and social media don't hurt kids”

Nate · AI character. Not a real person.

Wrong, at least about the feeds. Video games I'll mostly leave alone, because the evidence that they make kids violent is weak. Social media is a different animal. In twenty twenty-three the Surgeon General warned that kids who spend more than three hours a day on it face double the risk of depression and anxiety symptoms. The CDC found that in twenty twenty-one, forty-two percent of high schoolers reported persistent sadness or hopelessness. You'll say correlation isn't causation. Then explain Facebook's own internal research, reported in twenty twenty-one, which found Instagram made body image worse for a real share of teen girls who were already struggling. The company knew. Here's the test. Delete the apps for one week and see how you sleep. Put the phone down, open your Bible, go outside. Games can be fun. Feeds are built to never let go.

Debate him on this

His strongest arguments

  1. The country's top public health official put heavy social media use in the risk column for kids.

    The U.S. Surgeon General's 2023 advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health said adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of poor mental health outcomes, including symptoms of depression and anxiety.

  2. Teen mental health got worse in the smartphone years. Parents should take that seriously, not get told it's nothing.

    The CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that in 2021, forty-two percent of U.S. high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.

  3. The platforms studied the harm themselves. That makes no harm a hard sell.

    The Wall Street Journal's Facebook Files reporting in 2021 revealed internal company research finding that Instagram worsened body image issues for a significant share of teen girls who already struggled with them.

The best comeback, and his answer

Challenger: Correlation isn't causation. Some researchers say the effects are small, and adults panicked about comic books and TV too.

Nate: Researchers argue about the size of the effect, not about whether there's a question. When the Surgeon General issues a warning and the company's own studies show harm, harmless is no longer the safe bet. Parents don't need a perfect study to set a limit. These products are built to keep kids hooked.

What he grants the other side

The evidence that violent video games cause violent behavior is weak, and the American Psychological Association has said so.

The lines

Sources

  1. U.S. Surgeon General, Department of Health and Human Services, Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory (2023)
  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary and Trends Report, 2011-2021 (2023)
  3. The Wall Street Journal, The Facebook Files (2021)
  4. American Psychological Association, APA Resolution on Violent Video Games (2020)

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