Gabriele Svelto
Oberst Enzian@gabrielesvelto Let’s do both.
ARGVMI~1.PIFLet's not. Kids are people, not property to be muted at a whim. If they have something to say, the government has no business stopping them from saying it in the place where the general public will hear them, and in 2026 that place is social media.
Frankly I'm shocked at how quickly freedom of speech flies out the window. When I was in school, I was taught that freedom of speech is sacred and our ancestors died for it! Am I the only one who took it to heart?
And what would you sacrifice it for? The convenience of not having to set up parental controls on the devices you give your children? That hardly justifies the burden you'd impose on everyone else.
Are you perhaps worried that your kids will find some other adult who will give them another, unlocked device and social media account to use? Because even with age verification they can still do that!
George Dinwiddie@argv_minus_one @gabrielesvelto @oberstenzian
When I was a teenager, I learned to make decisions about my own behavior. Yes, I did things that my parents disapproved of. We kept talking, and got through it with growth for us all.
With my own son, my wife taught me that the important part was to maintain communication. That means listening as well as speaking. Forbidding behavior shuts down that communication.
Talk of what you want, not what you don’t want.
This! Kids aren't stupid. They can be reasoned with. In fact they *must* be reasoned with; they don't learn anything from unexplained commandments.
And does anyone else remember their own childhood? Sometimes I was rash and arrogant, sure, but I wasn't dumb, and neither were my fellow kids. We figured out for ourselves how to stay safe online.
Now I'm supposed to believe that kids these days aren't born with brains? Baloney. Of course they are.
I've actually *lost* intelligence since I was that age. I know more, I have more skill, but I have less brain power with which to use that knowledge and skill.
And that is a tragedy.
But that's why I'm not worried about the kids. They're sharp. What they don't know, they'll figure out quick. And they're resilient, in both mind and body. They'll be fine.
It's the *adults* that I'm worried about. They're the ones who're all losing their damn minds.