Mbut who blames teenagers? Suddenly the adult world is worried about their mental health. On Tuesday, September 28, Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of North Korea, exceptionally convened his parliament to prohibit young children from adopting the clothes, hairstyles and decadent language of their neighbors to the south. Not long ago, it was his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, who decided to ban young minors from playing video games during the week.
The ungrateful age is not just a concern of dictators. On the other side of the world, old senators look with concern over their descendants. On September 30, there will be a hearing in the United States Congress entitled “Protecting Children Online: Facebook, Instagram and the Dangers to Mental Health”. In question, the controversy which swells around a version of the platform Instagram, intended specifically for under 13 years, Instagram Kids.
On Monday, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri announced that he was suspending its release. September 14, Wall Street Journal published a survey highlighting the risks of this network on the well-being of young people, especially girls. Based on research conducted in 2019 by Facebook, the parent company of Instagram, it shows that nearly a third of teenage girls surveyed recognize that frequenting Instagram has a negative impact on the image they have of. their body. A disorder that can lead to dangerous behaviors such as bulimia, anorexia, and even thoughts of suicide.
Growth hopes
For years, psychologists have been warning about the perverse effects of social networks which exacerbate, using well-placed algorithms, the discomforts that previously remained confined to playgrounds. As an amplifier of the anxiety and depression that sometimes grips children at this crucial age in their development when they compare themselves to others.
In the United States, only 5 million adolescents use Facebook daily, while they are 22 million on Instagram
This is why Facebook is defending the development of a special network, which would allow parents to control the activity of their offspring, rather than letting them lie about their age to access Instagram for adults. Adam Mosseri is convinced that this mode of communication can be very beneficial to children by promoting the exchange of experiences and by fighting against the feeling of loneliness.
Facebook’s concern is also economic. Teens represent the most promising segment of social media. However, they have long deserted Facebook. In the United States, only 5 million adolescents visit the site daily, while they are 22 million on Instagram. It is therefore on this network that the group’s hopes for growth lie. The star of this age group, TikTok, claims to have passed the milestone of one billion active users worldwide. Facebook must react. But each point of growth now comes at the cost of a new social debate. And the one on the education of children in the digital age is crucial. He doesn’t care about borders.