this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2024
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I think a lot of those things are good. Limit cellphones in schools, good. Require websites to put a "content rating" in their HTML responses which would help make filtering the internet a lot easier, good. Require cellphone manufacturers to give instructions on how parents can setup filters on their children's phones, good.
Require all adults to upload their government papers before participating in the most important speech forum of our time, bad. I think the laws created to "protect the children" aren't really about protecting children (not exactly a hot take).
I have a challenge for you, and then a prediction:
My challenge is to look at this graph and form a world view that explains it. Certainly there's more behind these numbers than cellphones. Suicide rates were also high around 1990, why?
My prediction is that if we take away kid's cellphones, it will not actually help them and they will still be unhappy, and people will throw up their hands and say "what more can we do?". Well, what more we can do is address those big problems in the first panel of my meme.
I see that and I think both can't be compared as the curve is much more concerning at the moment so it would be illogical to assume the reason why it's going up must be similar.
Otherwise just look at the people in power and the geopolitical situation at the time. Increases during Republican mandates (public services reduced) except for under GWB where the US had "something to fight for".
That first chart I posted made it look like suicide rates were going into exponential growth recently, but "the curve" does plateau and seem to hover around the 1990's levels. See following chart, also, note how this chart makes things look unprecedented because they cut off the 1990s.
Sure but it still doesn't prove that the reason why it increased is the same as it was in the 80s though, the only way we could know isn't with those two graphics but by analyzing the reasons why they do it. You're coming to a conclusion without enough information, that's very dangerous.
Speaking of "enough information":
I think blaming cellphones, and even blaming social media to some extent, is like blaming video games in the 90's. There's lots of opinions, lots of "experts" who also have opinions, and not a lot of scientifically valid research to support those opinions. This is what I'm making fun of in the meme.
You say that is "very dangerous", maybe. I'll note that (at the time of writing) I'm the only one who has linked to anything in support of my views and conclusions. So my views are, apparently, the least "dangerous" in the thread.