The COPPA Cops

American teens’ declining mental health prompts a bipartisan push to regulate kids’ use of social media.

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A Preteen boy concentrates on his smartphone while wearing ear buds. (Photo by: Kurt Wittman/UCG/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Teens and young adults in America, and girls in particular, are experiencing record levels of anxiety, depression, and even self-harm and suicide. A growing body of evidence suggests that social media and smartphone use contribute to the crisis.

The main federal statute aimed at protecting children online—the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)—is more than 20 years old. The internet has changed dramatically since the law was passed in 1998, and bipartisan support for new regulations is growing.

What is Congress considering?

How COPPA works.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Interesting. I’m potentially on board with this, because libertarianism is not for children, although I do question the efforts of people moaning about how it’s all Big Tech’s fault for corrupting our children with addictive algorithms - as if human beings were incapable of making decisions for themselves. I’d be totally in favor of age verification if it’s technically feasible. Sure, clever kids will come up with technical ways to get around it, but hey that skill might come in handy as an adult!

    Mainly though, schools and parents should just do a better job of policing this. In my day job, I frequently have to tell kids not to use their phones in the locker room. Sure it’s no fun to police that, but neither is it amazingly difficult.

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    Joe Delanis

    Seems like this bill is intended to squeeze money out of social media platforms.

    Maybe up the age limit to 18, and attach liability to the juveniles - and by extension their parents - who knowingly falsify their ages to these companies?

    Short of the SSA-verifies process described at the end of the article, since "a consensus federal standard for effective age verification does not exist yet," I don't know how you can lower the burden of proof to companies in an intellectually honest way in this regard.

    It also seems like a dodge for parents. Why aren't they restricting access to devices to their kids? If we as a society - and God help me for typing that phrase - are acquiescing to the newfangled expectation that children should also have mobile devices, it does not follow those children must have smart phones. They can have call/text only Jitterbug-type cell phones. Parents seem to want to eat their cake (allow kids to have smartphones) and have it too (not have to oversee their childrens' use of them). I understand their desire to not want their kids to feel "left out" if their child(ren) is/are the only one(s) in their class/friend group who don't have smart phones. As far as social/psychological development, I don't know how "damaging" such relative deprivation is, but I suspect - in the grand scheme of life - it ends up being quite miniscule (especially compared to the alternative!). I also suspect *some* parents like their child(ren) having smartphones as a way to keep them occupied. Which strikes me as understandable, but...sub-optimal...parenting.

    Then again, I think many actual or attempted governmental interventions - I'm thinking here of V-chips or the PMRC - undertaken for the ostensible benefit of children, were attractive to a lot of parents because, push come to shove, they didn't want to do the work of parenting when it came to monitoring their childrens' media consumption.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Ben Connelly

      “ Why aren't they restricting access to devices to their kids? If we as a society - and God help me for typing that phrase - are acquiescing to the newfangled expectation that children should also have mobile devices, it does not follow those children must have smart phones. They can have call/text only Jitterbug-type cell phones. ”

      Bingo! Back in my day (okay, like 2010), dammit, my father and mother made me read books and kicked me outside if I spent too much time on the computer. Seriously, though, if I were in high school today, I doubt my parents would find it difficult to say, “no you don’t get a smartphone.” I’ve always figured that when I have kids we won’t have a TV in the house and they can get smartphones when they go to college. Why should I care if they miss out on whatever dumb and shallow pop culture thing is the latest gossip?

      “ I understand their desire to not want their kids to feel "left out" if their child(ren) is/are the only one(s) in their class/friend group who don't have smart phones. As far as social/psychological development, I don't know how "damaging" such relative deprivation is, but I suspect - in the grand scheme of life - it ends up being quite miniscule (especially compared to the alternative!).”

      Honestly it would probably be good for them! They’ll develop a thick skin and learn to ignore peer pressure.

      “ I also suspect *some* parents like their child(ren) having smartphones as a way to keep them occupied.”

      I’ve heard this argument. But my grandparents didn’t seem to have any trouble keeping their kids occupied. If anything it’s good for kids to be bored - they’ll learn to be creative. That’s how I learned to tell stories - by being bored and forcing myself to come up with something. Human beings have been able to raise children for thousands of years without smartphones. I don’t see why it should be “impossible” to do so today.

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      1. Avatar photo
        Joe Delanis

        Thanks for the praise and support! It's gratifying to receive feedback indicating - at least apropos this issue - I'm not totally out of my mind! 😂

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        1. Avatar photo
          Ben Connelly

          You’re definitely not! A lot of people I know (parents and young adults) are very wary of social media and smartphones. I’m on the same page as you.

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  3. Avatar photo
    Lchrisberg

    "The bill would ban ads targeted at children—something President Biden called for in his State of the Union address—and prohibit companies from collecting data on kids age 13 to 15 without those users’ consent. It would also add a new, more nimble enforcement mechanism to complement the FTC: state attorneys general."
    Not good enough. No data should be collected on minors. Adding State AGs for enforcement is good. Finally, require an official State ID and SSN to obtain an account.
    This stuff is destroying our youth and should be treated as just as dangerous as alcohol. We can ween them off. Start minimum age for an account at 14 and increment through the years until 18.
    Those that were exposed at a young age will be considered the lost generation.

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  4. Avatar photo
    DougAz

    Unfortunately we needed this to bound Rush Limbaugh who perversely corrupted so many young adults into entitlement of status without achievement allowing the inexcusable victimization they ingested from his rants.

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      🐝 BusyBusyBee 🐝

      Read this in the NYT over the weekend.

      ‘Brainwashing a Generation’: British Schools Combat Andrew Tate’s Views”

      “Alarmed by an online personality’s popularity among their students, educators are mobilizing to combat the sexism he promotes.“

      https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/19/world/europe/andrew-tate-uk-teachers.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

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      1. Avatar photo
        DougAz

        Yes!
        Unfortunately deprogramming conservatives from Limbaugh, Savage, Beck, O'Reilly, AEI, Heritage, National Review will take a couple decades. Probably could be called the "Lost Cause" Rev II.

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      Lchrisberg

      You know that Rush has been dead for many years, now, no? Further, he had a RADIO show, not a social media application. Starting Happy Hour a little early today?

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        Mudskipper

        Two years. That doesn't count as many in my book.

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        DougAz

        Hate Radio WAS the Con Social media.

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          Lchrisberg

          Nope. Wrong. Fail.
          Radio has been around for almost a century and is a voice only technology. Social media is completely different.

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  5. Safety Cone

    Because I can't expect me to control my own kid's access. Because I can't expect you to control your own kid's access. Because I can't stop my kid from purchasing a $300 device that requires a $50 monthly subscription?

    Governmental regulation can't save us from our own culture. Dumbest generation.

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      Lchrisberg

      Whatever the reason, that's fine. Just prevent them from having accounts until they are 18.

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  6. CatoTheElder

    Beware of letting the camel’s nose under the tent flap.

    While “effective age verification” sounds like a good idea, and of course to some reasonable extent it is, but the means by which verification might be obtained are often being linked to government-provided, or at least government-approved, electronic versions of identity cards.

    “Show me your papers” is becoming “show me your electronic ID verification”. Driver’s licenses were not intended to be forms of identification, but now it’s just blithely accepted that one’s primary tangible proof of identity is a “driver’s license”. Given that the card (or electronic equivalent) in question is more often used as form of establishing identity, we’re already a fair piece down the path of these being Identity Cards that can be officially annotated to show licensure to drive a motor vehicle. Add the SSN (which is the default DL number in many states already), and it becomes a tax identification card. If it’s certified by the federal government, could it not replace the vaunted and increasingly anachronistic Social Security card. And if we’re gonna be giving ‘em to kids to use as means of establishing identity, age, etc., why not for everyone, for everything?

    In all fairness, any debate on the matter is effectively over, given where we are, and the immense societal momentum towards “safety”, convenience, substitution of the online life for the real world, etc. It’s not a matter of “if”, but only when, and how.

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  7. Avatar photo
    Scarlette Tarte

    I think that the last 15 years of rising suicides among teens (yes, it was happening before COVID) is tied to social media.

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      🐝 BusyBusyBee 🐝

      Jon Haidt, of Coddling of the American Mind fame, is writing a new book. He’s setup a Substack and has all of his research available online on a google drive.

      His first piece is called :

      The Teen Mental Illness Epidemic Began Around 2012
      This is not just “Kids these days”

      And it’s fascinating.
      https://jonathanhaidt.substack.com/p/the-teen-mental-illness-epidemic

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        Scarlette Tarte

        I will check it out, thanks.

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  8. Hartzlk

    It's not hard to guess a valid SSN. So the kids use the proposed system to shop around for an SSN that has the right age associated with it, and then use that SSN for all of their signups. I am skeptical of the proposed solution, and skeptical of the government taking action over parents.

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      Blake Fischer

      It would have to be a combination of SSN / Birthdate / Name. And it would be simple enough to require social media companies to not allow the creation of an account that didn’t match that name. Of course, you’re right - it would be possible to get around it but it would be harder than the current “verification”.

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      1. Hartzlk

        Okay, I think I see a bigger problem here. Tying account creation to an SSN would be akin to telling these companies that they cannot do business wih citizens in other countries. This starts getting radical very quickly.

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          Blake Fischer

          Not really. Internet companies already have different laws they have to follow in different states/countries. It would just be the rule they’d have to follow for US users. I think the much trickier part would be defining social media companies. For example, is YouTube a video platform or a social media company? It’s murky, at best.

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      2. Hartzlk

        You're right, that is better.

        Though I will still maintain that none of this is any replacement for what a parent can do.

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          Joe Delanis

          But it seems quite obvious to me *parents don't want to do the work* of policing their childrens' internet use.

          And since those parents can vote, it becomes an attractive issue for politicians to pick up as a cause celebre.

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    Taylor L

    Thank you for the coverage of this topic. I'd love to see more Dispatch work/consideration on the problems and potential solutions in this area.

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  10. Rossknode

    I'm a teen and child therapist and there are several things parents can do to mitigate social media's influence on their kids. 1) Kids don't get to use social media until they have a daily conversation about what they are seeing and reading online and the conversation is done when mom says it's done. "You get social media when I am satisfied with out conversation, not a moment before." This will then force the kid to engage in the conversation and not roll their eyes and the child leads the conversation, mom listens and asks questions.
    2) Only get to use social media around mom - No use in their rooms. And mom can pop her head in and ask questions which they have to constructively answer.
    It's all about having real conversations the kid engages in. Mom listens and asks questions, she doesn't lecture. And if the kid pushes back mom holds firm. This is the hard part. Sticking to your guns and not capitulating. How bad does your kid want to use social media? Are they willing to have constructive conversations with mom about what they are seeing? If not, then they don't want it that bad.

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    1. Kongming

      I'm going to be starting a family soon. Any tips for keeping kids off social media entirely?

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      1. Avatar photo
        Scarlette Tarte

        Don't buy them a smart phone. Just a basic cell phone for calls home.

        Keep your own laptop or computer locked up.

        Get them involved in lots of other activities, camps, classes...hope they fall in love with something in particular...say, ballet or fencing, whatever, that they want to dedicate themselves to.

        I firmly believe that all of us are in our devices way too much. It's not good for us, our kids or our country. We can do far more good spending time in our communities, helping others...which helps ourselves.

        Which brings me to my last point...get your kids involved in some community service you do...if you work in a soup kitchen, bring them along. Teach them service to others...much happiness and contentment comes from a life of service to others.

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        1. Rossknode

          Yes,
          It's all really simple stuff. But it means mom and dad do the same things. It's easy to get your kid to stop eating junk food. You don't buy it. But that means you don't get any either and you have to stand up to their complaining about it. Very simple stuff but not easy.

          Problem with only getting them a flip phone when the parent has a smartphone is it comes across as hypocritical which creates friction and a rupture in the parent/child relationship. The bigger the rupture the less your child will listen to and abide by what you are saying.

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            Scarlette Tarte

            I don't think it's hypocritical.

            Adulthood is different from childhood, and there is nothing wrong with parents using that to illustrate the connection between growth in responsibility and growth in rewards.

            Adults get to drink an adult beverage. That's because we are both physically able to handle it, and have more mature decision making skills. Well, most of us, anyway.

            Adults get to drive. Adults get to vote. Adults get to make all sorts of decisions that kids don't...for a reason that has nothing to do with hypocrisy.

            We get a smart phone because we should have the discipline to put it down once in a while, and also the ability to know what is not good content online and usually, by the time we are an adult, bullying does not have the same deleterious effects on us. Oh sure, we may feel bullying's effects, but not nearly as likely to kill ourselves over it.

            The "It gets better" campaign was good about illustrating that. I was called Casper as a kid (I am very fair skinned) and it was very hard on me, but as an adult, it would not bother me at all anymore. I would know that the issue was with the person calling me that and not me.

            Anyway, I don't think it's hypocritical for adults to enjoy adult things. It just lets kids know "hey, as I get older, if I make good decisions, if I show I can be responsible, I get rewarded with the things of adulthood".

            Maybe we would get back to kids looking forward to that, rather than where so many are now, not wanting to grow up, but instead live in the safety of mom and dad's care for the rest of their lives.

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          Blake Fischer

          This is great advice! The smartphone part being the most stupidly obvious key. What do parents expect when they get their 8 year old an iPhone? It’d be like giving your kids keys to the car, a bottle of vodka, and a loaded gun and just trusting that they’ll probably do the right thing with it all.

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          1. Dennis.Trask.Z

            Oh yes

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      2. Hartzlk

        We haven't hit that age yet with our kids, so take my advice with a grain of salt:
        Don't buy your kid a smartphone.
        Don't put a computer in your kid's bedroom.
        Learn how to block urls with your router, just in case you need to play hardball.
        Invest time in talking with your kid so that they know it's safe to talk to you about anything. (I know, way easier said than done)
        Know who your kid's friends are.
        Help your kid make connections with local communities rather than relying entirely on internet communities.
        Put your own smartphone down when talking to them.

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      3. Rossknode

        That's probably going to be impossible. Biggest thing is what a parent models to their kid. If mom and dad are always on their phones why shouldn't the child be too?
        One of the problems isn't so much the kids time online but what they miss out on when they are online, the face-to-face interactions. Mom and dad allow supervised social media after mom and dad get enough face to face interactions with their kids that meet mom and dad's expectations. (But this means mom and dad have to spend time talking and listening to their kids. How many are really doing that now?)
        I do think a lot of what kids are doing online is filling the void of meaningful conversations that they are no longer getting with their parents. The more they do that with mom and dad the less need there is to be online. Though it won't mitigate it. I mean, I'm having an online conversation right now. :-)

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          Scarlette Tarte

          Some of this is relevant to my age. I had my children before smart phones, although they did have a cell phone. But my son's have kids now, and both asked me what I thought about their kids having a smart phone...I advised them against it, and so far, they have not gotten them one, but their kids are young.

          I can tell you this...if they did get them one, when they come and stay with me, they would not be allowed to be on it. Gammaw and pop pop are gonna have them out riding horses or fishing or mucking out stalls, or knitting or baking or anyone of a million things that is better than sitting on your phone.

          And with that, I gotta go...I have laundry to do, then I am gonna go play mah jong with my lady friends.

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