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Cap Diamond Project
It is no secret that Generation Z--the name given to the demographic cohort of individuals born
sometime between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s--is fond of social media, so much that they have
been dubbed the iGeneration by demographers and psychologists alike. In fact, a 2015 national survey
conducted by Common Sense Media (a non-profit organization that reviews various types of digital
content and promotes media literacy) found that teenagers were using nine hours of media per day, on
average, and that tweens--respondents who were 8 to 12 years of age--were using six (The Common
Sense Census, 2015). Neither statistic accounted for time spent using media for school or homework,
factors which would likely increase the average daily time for both demographics. To put these
numbers into perspective, 21st century children and adolescents are spending an average of anywhere
from one quarter to nearly one half of each day using media platforms. Annually, that is the equivalent
of 137 24-hour days spent using media, for teens, and 91 days, for tweens. All of those hours spent on
social media are virtually restriction free, a situation that has proven to be dangerous to Gen Zers
health.
While exorbitant social media use may seem to be less harmful to young users than, say,
tobacco or alcohol is, the reality is that social networking sites feature many of the same standards used
to justify prohibiting tobacco/alcohol products among minors: unavoidability, toxicity, potential for
abuse, and negative effects on society. These four regulation criteria were first developed by a group
of social psychologists in their book Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity, but are now widely accepted
by the public health community nationwide and are frequently used to justify the prohibition of
alcohol/tobacco for minors (The University of the State of New York, 2016). Because social media
meets these same criteria, it is equally--if not more--dangerous to youths well-being, and should be
regulated as such. It is imperative that lawmakers cease to view minors use of social media as harmless
and begin treating it like the public health risk that it is, by enacting legislation that limits the use of
social networking platforms for minors and that requires social media platforms to institute adult
verification systems.
When determining whether or not a product needs to be prohibited for minors, the first criterion
that must always be met is unavoidability. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word
unavoidability is used to determine how pervasive the use of some product is throughout a given
society; if it is easy for minors to escape said product, then there is no real need for it to be regulated
for that demographic. For example, tobacco and alcohol were both widely accessible to minors prior
to their respective regulations, and hence were unavoidable. Correspondingly, a 2015 study on
adolescent social media habits found that 92% of teens go online daily and that 71% are active on more
than one social networking site, percentages that undeniably indicate that the product is, for the large
majority of the adolescent population, unavoidable (Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview,
2015). As for why the percentages found were so high, the report cites the widespread availability of
smartphones among adolescents as the primary explanation. While there is no data from this year
specifically on teen social media use, trends indicate that the demographic is going online more and
more often every year, so it can rationally be assumed that they are actually frequenting social networks
at rates higher than those reported by the 2015 study. In short, social media use is extremely high in
Once a product, such as social media, has been deemed unavoidable, the next standard that
must be evaluated before it can be regulated for minors is toxicity. Toxicity is defined by the Merriam-
Webster Dictionary as the extent to which a substance is extremely hard, malicious, or harmful;
containing or being poisonous material especially when capable of causing death or serious
debilitation. In short, it is not sufficient for a product to be used heavily by minors; it also has to be
causing said demographic some sort of harm. Ironically, even though social networks are supposed to
enhance relationship-building and improve users social skills, the opposite is true. In a 1998 study
published in the journal American Psychologist (AP), researchers found that greater use of the Internet
was associated with declines in participants' communication with family members in the household,
declines in the size of their social circle, and increases in their depression and loneliness (Internet
Paradox). Although that study was from nearly 20 years ago, its findings are even more true today, as
internet use--and more specifically social media use--is on the rise. An April 2017 longitudinal study
from the University of Sheffield, England found that spending just one hour a day on social networks
reduces the probability of being completely happy with life overall by approximately 14 percentage
points. To put that into perspective, living in a single parent household reduces the probability of a
child being happy by 4.6 percentage points, a fraction of the negative effect of social media (Royal
Economic Society, 2017). Moreover, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
(NSPCC) recently cited social media as a primary factor in the dramatic increase in hospitalization of
children and adolescents for self-harm (Postles, 2017). Seeing as social media increases loneliness and
depression and decreases happiness with life, not to mention causes minors to harm themselves to the
It has been established that social media is both unavoidable and toxic for minors, but before
we get ahead of ourselves, it still has to have the potential for abuse. The Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) applies this term to products that create some sort of psychological or physical dependence in
the user, namely withdrawal symptoms or psychological distress after one has ceased using the
substance. The potential for abuse criterion serves to assess how addictive a product is. While it is
common knowledge that substances like alcohol and tobacco have the potential to be abused by users-
-especially minors--most people would not put social media in the same category. In reality, though,
social media is designed to be addictive, so that users will keep coming back for more. While social
network developers use various methods to keep users hooked, instant gratification--through likes,
favorites, retweets, Snapchat streaks, etc-- is by far the most prevalent. If, for example, a Facebook
user posts a picture, he or she will get a notification every time someone likes it. When the user sees
the notification, his or her brain rewards the individual and then releases dopamine--a response akin
to that created by the consumption of alcohol or tobacco--which causes the brain to seek more likes as
instantaneously as possible, a process also known as instant gratification. The dopamine loop leaves
the user feeling insatiable, entrapping them in an addictive cycle (Weinschenk, 2012). Additionally,
researchers at Harvard University found that the act of self-disclosing personal information--both good
and bad--via social media creates the same positive neurological response (Newborn, 2012). Like
tobacco and alcohol, social media creates a physical dependence in the body--users who attempt to
stop may even experience withdrawal symptoms--so it is just as likely to be abused as one of the minor-
restricted substances.
The last criterion which must be met is that the product causes a negative effect on society.
Essentially, this standard applies if said product is harmful (and negatively influential) to societal
and/or communal well-being and has the potential to be/has already been damaging. A negative effect
on society does not mean that the product solely has negative outcomes, but rather that the detriments
outweigh the benefits. Though the negative effects of social networking sites have heretofore been
determined--social media use is unavoidable for minors, directly associated with increasing depression
and loneliness, physically addictive for users--social media also has some positive outcomes; it
facilitates the spreading of information, enables long-distance communication, and boosts the economy
(Amedie, 2015). While the positives are indeed valuable to society, they come nowhere near to
mitigating the negative effects of social media. Minors who frequent social media are more likely to
develop depression, an illness which cost the U.S. economy over $210 billion in 2010 alone (Haelle,
2016). Even though social media itself may boost the economy, it also increases rates of depression,
which negatively affect economic growth. Social media is also addictive, makes in-person connections
more difficult, decreases productivity, results in a loss of privacy for users, and enables cyber-bullying
(Jung). As a whole, social media is near-catastrophic for society, and the few benefits that come from
Social media thus meets all four criteria, but what can be done about it? Based on extensive
research, the most effective solution would be to force social media conglomerates to implement a
standardized adult verification system, not to be confused with the historically ineffective age
confirms the age of everyone attempting to use the site, to protect minors and companies alike. The
most reliable way to verify adult age is by identification via credit card or drivers license, registered
in the name of the user to prevent minors from using their parents IDs. Currently, adult verification
systems are in place on certain pornography websites, age-restricted YouTube videos or channels, and
sites that sell alcohol or tobacco products. Expanding the adult verification system to social networks
could actually be fairly easy if done either as an amendment to the Childrens Online Privacy Protection
Act (COPPA) of 1998, or if presented as an issue of public health. As of now, COPPA prohibits the
posting/collection of personal information on children 13 years of age and younger without parental
permission and mandates that website operators post a comprehensive privacy policy (Complying with
COPPA). If amended, COPPA could require social network companies to institute a standardized adult
verification system, and then expand its protection to include all minors rather than only 13 and unders.
Alternatively, because social media meets the four criteria for alcohol and tobacco regulation, it could
be restricted on the basis of public health concern by government agencies such as the Federal
sites is that said implementation would be pointless, because the absence of a credit card or drivers
license does not necessarily indicate that the person lacking is a minor. While the counterclaim is in
fact true, it is insufficient support against the implementation of an adult verification system; the same
can be said in other circumstances in which identification is currently required to obtain a certain
restricted good or service. For instance, if someone goes into a liquor store and attempts to buy alcohol
with no form of identification, he or she will not be permitted to, whether he or she appears to be of
legal age or not. The same can be said of someone trying to purchase tobacco or marijuana (in a state
where it has been legalized) or attempting to enter a casino. If an individual wants to do any of the
aforementioned things, he or she must provide a valid form of identification; if said person neglects to
do so, he or she will not be permitted to. There is no exception made for legal adults with no credit
card or drivers license trying to buy products restricted to minors, so the same identification
requirement would be a reasonable expectation when creating a social networking account. Another
argument made against an adult verification system is that it infringes on the privacy rights/freedom of
expression of minors. While minors do have these freedoms, there are limitations, namely the fact that
the government has the right to control airwaves, including social networks. Additionally, there is no
fundamental right to use the internet, regardless of age; if the government were to shut down the
internet tomorrow, it would not be deemed unconstitutional. As such, there is no defensible reason
against implementing an adult verification system on social networking sites in order to restrict access
for minors.
Over the past two decades, the internet has increased in popularity, giving social networks the
opportunity to grow. Generation Z is the first generation to have not known a world without Google,
and unsurprisingly, members use social media at escalating rates. Though many think that social media
is harmless, the data reflects that it meets the same four criteria used to justify regulation of the
sale/consumption of tobacco and alcohol for minors; social networking sites are unavoidable, toxic,
addictive (potential for abuse) for children and adolescents, and, overall, negatively impact society.
Though social media has been found to have some positive effects for users, the negatives are far more
pervasive, and outweigh the good. The most effective solution would be for the government to mandate
that social networking conglomerates implement a standardized adult verification system, either by
expanding COPPA or by declaring it a matter of public health through the agencies in the Executive
Branch. Either way, something has to be done. At the rate at which technology and social networks are
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