Like ALL cheese though? It's too broad a food group - like a mild cheddar and Stinking Bishop are both cheese but I don't understand how. Cheese is the dog of foods - countless varieties, some you wouldn't allow in the house.
I think it shows in parents celebrating the ban as something they are pleased about for their children that the benefits of the ban for them outweigh the downsides. It means they generally aren't worried about how their child is able to socially interact in other ways or access other activities.
Of course, and that would be great if the ban bears that out. I'm a bit more skeptical as to the benefits of the curfew idea for older teens - obviously I hope my skepticism is misplaced!
The biggest criticisms I have seen are considering the needs of more vulnerable kids (neurodivergent, LGBTQ+, disabled) who might struggle more in the real world but are more comfortable online and find their communities and support there. This is a universal ban but it will have unequal impacts.
I think this is the crux of why I feel so annoyed by the ban. Young people finding their communities, belonging, and support online is an actual lifeline, but this is so easy for the govt to dismiss when the needs of these groups who most benefit are largely ignored or vilified in society anyway.
Here's a word cloud of what chldren said they get from social media ("friend, family, informatin, connection, learning") and will lose with a ban
This will be the teenagers' ultimate revenge against authoritarian crackdowns: just simply refusing to do anything productive with all the time they would have spent online, purely out of spite. They are already cleverer than the government.
Population policies like bans can have side harms even if they do well for the primary outcome. But there’s not even evidence for social media bans improving kids’ mental health, let alone all their likely disbenefits of privacy infringement & social isolation.
www.frontiersin.org/news/2026/05...
What do they genuinely think the outcome will be of this? What actual improvements in anything we will see? We had no social media when I was 16-17 and we just drank cheap cider and alcopops in each other's houses on a Saturday night. Not having YouTube didn't make us do anything more responsible.