Murthy calls for stricter standards for young people to register on these platforms, amid questions about whether social media platforms apply the required safety standards.
Murthy, who is the chief surgeon in the United States, added that safety measures must be implemented to achieve this by the parents as well as the platforms themselves.
The instructions on social media platforms allow children to use them when they reach the age of 13, which is a sensitive stage in which children begin to develop their identity and self-perception at that age, in addition to their self-values as well as their relationships.
But with their negligent use of these platforms, this could harm many of them. Therefore, experts recommend transparency by the companies that own these platforms regarding the impact that their platforms have on children, and which children are most negatively affected, and Murthy calls for safety standards that he described as non-existent at the present time.
According to Murthy, “If we tell a child to use his willpower to put an end to the time he spends on social media platforms, that means putting him against the greatest product designers in the world, and this is definitely an unfair fight.”
Professor of mental health and behavior modification, Dr. Rehab Al-Awadi says:
At the age of thirteen, the child is still considered a child, even if it is in the stage of “late childhood”. This stage is difficult, because it constitutes a transition from childhood to adolescence, in which hormonal secretions and transformations occur. At the age of thirteen, the knowledge and personality traits of the child are in the process of being formed, and this means that the age is very critical and needs great attention. At this stage, a rebellion may occur in the next child to adolescence, thus becoming more likely to be drawn after several waves. It is very harmful for parents to resort to smart devices to occupy their children, because this matter greatly affects their skills and personality.
