MSA2 podcast

The podcast discusses concerns about kids' social media use, such as bullying and body image issues. It emphasizes the importance of parents monitoring their children's social media activity and teaching them how to use it responsibly. While there are risks associated with social media, it is also being used for positive purposes like learning and communication. The podcast suggests that social media companies should focus on promoting the positives of their platforms instead of banning them entirely. Hey, Disconnected listeners. It's Sunday, April 21st. I'm Abby Steger, and this is Beyond the Headlines Sunday, the show where we tackle big questions about big stories in the news. This week, we are looking at TikTok bans and social media regulations, answering the questions about how social media is affecting kids, what steps social media platforms are taking, and whether the government needs to intervene. But first, we need to understand some of the concerns people have with kids' social media use, such as bullying, constant screen time, the formation of addictive habits, body image issues, and sexual harassment. Here to comment on her experience growing up with social media is Sydney Prairie. I feel like I have really low self-esteem, generally. I feel like I compare myself a lot, and when it's right in your face on Instagram, and everyone is posting it all the time, it's like easy to just compare yourself. What Sydney said is something that I can relate to, and I'm sure there's others out there who have felt the same way. So how do we ensure that kids aren't feeling this way? Is it the parents' responsibility? I'm joined by Jodi Steger, a mother of two. Here to comment on her decision-making when it came to her children's social media use. So I was very pro phones for both of my daughters. Better for parents to show them the right way to use it, than just giving it to them at an older age. So I asked communication with their friends, but I also made sure that we monitored. They didn't have full access to it. It was us kind of periodically monitoring it to make sure that, trusting them, sometimes you don't trust the other people. Luckily, Jodi understood how to monitor and take precautions with these apps. But the smartphone was only released 10, 15 years ago. So all these apps are new for parents as well. Not every parent will understand how to ensure these kind of precautions. So when asked what she would do, this was Jodi's response. There are bad people that get on these social media and they are targeting kids. So I think whatever the app company can do to help avoid that and making sure that behind the scenes that they are making sure that they're able to track these people to a certain extent. But I don't feel like the government needs to get involved. I think as long as you're teaching your children how to use it and even sharing the risk that are involved with it. Like Jodi said, there are risks associated with social media. But that doesn't mean that all social media is bad. Many people think that because someone had a bad experience that all social media is bad and to avoid it. But social media is being used for some very positive things like learning, understanding, and communicating. To help more people remove this fallacy from their heads, social media companies should bring out the positives of their apps instead of banning the usage altogether. Well, that's all for the show. I'm Abby Steger and this has been Beyond the Headlights Sunday. Thank you for listening. Beyond the Headlights