I’m well aware of the risks of nuclear energy. But the risks of climate change are far, far higher. Yes renewables are available, but they often can’t be located close to demand, and some countries (Japan, South Korea) the renewables potential is severely limited
They’re also anti-nuclear energy which for an environment-leaning party in this day and age is a bold position
We also aspire to a framework where people aren't forced to drive if they don't want to. It should be a choice, not a necessity so you can participate in life. Same with phones/social media. It is why we should be actively creating attractive non-digital spaces for young people - sadly lacking atm
A better analogy is driving. We don't let under 17s drive until they have a licence, for which they have to pass a test. Driving is dangerous compared to not driving, but we put safeguards in place so everyone (driver, highways agency, car makers etc) is legally responsible for safety.
They need infrastructure, services. Park benches, skate parks, dirt tracks, youth clubs, outreach. Litter picking the used cannisters with only minimal judgement. We need to be ready for broken bones - for young people to take risks without us there, and without us tracking their every movement.
This is incredibly important, and I wish the smartphone-free movement would talk more about it. We cannot shut off one valve of expression for young people without allowing them more freedom.
Next time someone complains about "youths" congregating in your area, reply with delight not consternation.
Totally agree. This is a two-pronged problem that requires a two-pronged solution, and always has been. We can start by normalising young people in public - which I always try to do.
Like I say, there's a conversation to be had, and I'm not dismissing online relationships at all. But I'm really uneasy about the idea that we let kids, whose brains are still developing, disappear into an online world, however great those online relationships might be.
Two of my best friends I met online too! We went to each other's weddings! But I also had RL relationships that helped me form the social skills I needed to be happy and secure, and arguably fed into those online relationships too. So I would argue they can be wonderful but they're not a substitute.
Not that it matters but I have lived experience as an ND person and as the parent of an ND child. Children are, I believe, are the subject in question here?
You speak of your experience with absolute confidence, but when I speak about mine it's "speaking over people". Got it.
The term ND does not exclusively belong to ND people for whom SM is a lifeline. There is a lot of nuance here that does not get acknowledged, and it's really tiring to watch ND kids who are uniquely vulnerable to tech because of their diversity get ignored or, in your parlance "spoken over".
There's a conversation to be had about how social media works for ND kids for whom RL social interaction is really hard (the "lifeline" theory). But then we also need one about whether online relationships are a substitute to RL equivalents, which require hard-won social skills.
Neurodivergent children are not a homogenous lump, all with the same condition, "benefitting from social media". Many ND kids are particularly at risk from SM. If your dopamine receptors are under-stimulated, how do you cope with a dopamine machine?
Also a tonne of dangers, to which many ND children are particularly vulnerable. I am really uneasy with how people lump together ND kids (with diff conditions!) as a homogeneous group “benefitting” from SM. They are not a political tool.
This. They are threatened by diversity or anyone who doesn’t conform to their idea of “normal”, so they try to find “cures” to make everyone reassuringly the same.
Oh god, the pressure. The second season of Game of Thrones?
There’s no one answer to this but making it easier for kids to be active outdoors, particularly as part of daily routines, can play a big role in supporting healthier lives. Child-friendly streets that support doorstep play and safe, attractive walking & cycling routes to school are a priority.
Genuinely, I have this thought about eight times per day.
Think my new provocative bit might be saying "if you want to give young people something to belong to, middle aged men need to get off their phones and start running stuff in their community".
We also implement strong guard rails on design (seatbelts, safety features), regulation (speed limits) and use (speeding fines, alcohol limits etc). We take measures to mitigate the risks to the best of our ability, and accept what's left. We're nowhere near there with social media or smartphones
I feel like cars are a better analogy for social media. They're useful, a normal part of human existence and can be a ticket to the world. But we know they're inherently dangerous, so we restrict access by age, and train people to use them before allowing unsupervised use.
Also interesting: despite the USA being a frequent topic of discussion, nobody on the podium mentioned Trump by name and almost nobody named the US. The most frequently used wording was “the country to the south”
I actually had an interviewee ask me - after my questions almost entirely focused on their project - if I was going to ask about the upcoming Canadian election. I barely had a chance to say “yeah sure” before they fiercely (and politely) launched into a polemic on Canadian unity
Currently in Canada reporting on a conference and never in all my years as a trade journalist have I seen so many corporate types breaking the fourth wall with their righteous anger
(although, as these are Canadians after all, it’s delivered with steely cheeriness)
Half way through s1 of Severance and I am desperate for the story not to shift focus on to what Lumen is actually doing and thereby negate the sinister pointlessness of it all. Hold the line lads.
Great piece by my colleague Leigh Collins on why you should care that a Chinese hydrogen-powered drone flew 30 hours without the need to refuel
www.hydrogeninsight.com/innovation/a...
Tl;dr smartphones may not be a specific problem at schools (although they are sometimes!) but they ARE a problem in the community and what schools say and do in a community matters.
And btw, there's a lot of evidence to suggest that kids also want to be free of social media in particular, but don't know how to extricate themselves. More In Common have done research on it and I'd suggest looking at the Smartphone-Free Childhood website for more firm data
