Spud

Just a wee Spud, trying to find normality in this crazy world

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@kate_eve @dreamattack1989 @AllisonPearson I still can’t believe Snapchat is actually allowed to have the feature that shows potential strangers the live location of children, tbh. It beggars belief. I know it can be switched off but I’ve seen that most of them don’t have it switched off.

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@Nebulous86 @dreamattack1989 @AllisonPearson Ignoring it won’t stop bullies posting derogatory/abusive content about you online for all your peers to see, unfortunately. A friend of mine’s child had this so bad the police ended up getting involved.

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@Nebulous86 @dreamattack1989 @AllisonPearson I was bullied in the 1980s/90s, yes it was a huge problem. But at least when I went home from school I could get away from the bullies for a while. Being able to be hounded by your bullies 24/7 must be horrendous

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@kate_eve @dreamattack1989 @AllisonPearson You’re right about YouTube - but Snapchat is absolutely toxic for exclusion bullying. Allows teens to see where all their friends are in real time - absolutely horrible for a 13/14 year old girl to see her friends have all decided to go out without inviting her

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@ClareCraigPath @laworfiction I was vocally anti-lockdown, especially school closures. I support this ban. I feel like I’m the only one on the planet though.

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@Limiteds__ @helloitschrisg @Xhakaed I don’t agree with banning YouTube, no. I don’t see how that’s being classed as social media tbh

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@ShakinthatChalk My daughter struggled with maths after moving to secondary school. I asked for some help for her. Teacher directed me to BBC Bitesize 🤯

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@missrobinson The two things are linked, IMO

[Spud @SpuddieG]

Quite

[Couch Nish 🛋️ @CouchNish]

Weird how the same people who want their country to “go back to how it used to be” are so opposed to having their children live a life the way theirs used to be (pre-social media).

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@serialsockthief My 15 year old recently asked me to take her phone completely away from her when she has any school work to do as she has noticed it makes her procrastinate about getting it done and makes her feel ‘a bit grotty really’.

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@Andyc32 @WestminsterWAG And no, your parents can’t make you feel better about it when you’re a teenager and all you want is to fit in with your peers.

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@Andyc32 @WestminsterWAG As someone brought up (in 80s/90s) by a strict mum who wouldn’t let me watch anything that everyone else was watching or have anything that everyone else had, that had its own harms. Being bullied for being the odd one out, or not being able to join in with pals is horrible.

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@BradfemlyWalsh Same, because my son got croup twice and needed steroids!!

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@DasFiesel @danbarker Correct. Like the smoking ban in pubs didn’t stop all existing smokers from smoking, but it sure as hell helped prevent a lot of people from starting in the first place

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@helloitschrisg @Xhakaed Are you a parent of teenagers? The harms are the addictive nature of certain social apps, the algorithms they use, and the fact that predators and bullies are able to use them to communicate directly with children.

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@bencooper Did your Atari tell you that all your friends were out without you? Or that you should be eating less?

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@Weltgemeinwesen @m1rdock @scottygb And the police will tell the caller they’re wasting their time

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@helloitschrisg @Xhakaed IWhat useful information can kids get from Tiktok or Instagram that they can’t get from other sources?

And why is it so much more difficult for kids to message their friends on WhatsApp than on Snapchat?

This is hardly a massive impediment to communication.

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@helloitschrisg @Xhakaed We are talking about u16s. Children. It’s always been the case that kids can’t do everything adults can, because we recognise that they are not mini-adults, their brains aren’t fully developed yet.

They can still easily communicate through messaging apps. They’ll survive.

[Spud @SpuddieG]

@jakonian Still not their children’s fault