[Eddy_Viscosity2]

Banning kids from alcohol, cigarettes, and sex sure did work. I can't think of a single kid I went to school with that did any of these things (and certainly not me). All those laws and rules were absolutely effective in preventing us as kids from doing them. /s

[cowboylowrez]

Yeah but we can sanction the parents. If your friends at school were having sex with strangers for money and their parents were doing the pimping, society would like to have a word.

Why is letting your kids sext with adult strangers any different? Is it because the only "pimping" you are doing is giving in to your brat nagging for an iphone?

[Eddy_Viscosity2]

It isn't any different, parents can already be sanctioned if they let those kids do those things.

The thing is, the vast vast majority of kids are not doing those things and are savy enough not to. It's the same as the alchohol and drugs for teens. Yes there are some that go to far and even get hooked on hard stuff, but most don't.

Don't get me wrong, I think social media is bad for both kids and adults alike, but predation is not its biggest problem. I'd say the biggest problem is the attention black hole it creates along with a misaligned sense of self. But that's a harder story to sell then 'super scary bad thing is happening so we need to do super extreme thing to prevent it'.

[voakbasda]

I wonder if creating more laws designed to punish parents correlates with declining birth rates. Sure makes me think twice about having them.

[cowboylowrez]

No, I'm pretty sure declining birthrates are caused by the smartphones, either that or the AI lied to me again but I'm still pretty sure its the smartphones.

"Recent economic research links the rise of smartphones to the persistent decline in birth rates. A National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) study estimates that early smartphone adoption accounts for 33% to 52% of the drop in the U.S. general fertility rate, particularly among teenagers and young adults under 30"

-- this quote is from AI and could be a complete fabrication

[Citizen_Lame]

This whole thread is dumpster fire of sovereign citizens caught in AI psychosis supporting authoritarian bullshit.

[filoleg]

Yeah, this isn't the HN I remember, but the one I am, unfortunately, stuck in.

Slow but steady reddification of HN audience (judging by the comments) is its biggest existential threat imo. And the worst part is that, unlike with the actual reddit, this isn't due to the platform owners/admins at all (as I can only think of good things to say about @dang and the HN itself).

[kelipso]

What kind of argument is this? "Banning murder sure did work. I can't think of a single person who did any of those things. /s".

Bans would work for >90% of kids and that's good enough.

[Eddy_Viscosity2]

There is a big difference between personally knowing a lot of people that do a thing, and hearing about some stranger on TV who did a thing.