Richmond city councillors are calling on the province to introduce policies protecting teens from what some are calling the “toxicity” of social media.
At last week’s council meeting, a motion was passed directing staff to write a letter to provincial and federal governments, asking them to examine the effects of social media use and possible protections for youth.
Coun. Kelly Greene said the goal of the letter is to let other levels of government know how social media is affecting youth on the ground level.
“I think it’s really important that we make sure that other levels of government (know what’s happening), who might not be hearing these stories because we’re really close to the ground as a municipal council,” she said.
“I know that, not only Richmond, but Richmond is affected by the toxicity of the online, social media experience for young teens and older teens.”
Last week, the province announced it is investing $160,000 to provide 190 online safety sessions to 19,000 B.C. students.
However, Greene says that more action needs to be taken, adding that possible negative effects of social media on youth mental wellness could be seen as a “health issue” and that there’s a need for more data on these effects.
“Without the research to back up what we’re experiencing on the ground, I think it’s just going to end up in an anecdotal kind of file, and we need more than that. Kids deserve it,” she said
“This is a newer, emerging issue, but we do know that it’s harmful students and we want to be sure we’re protecting them.”
Greene said she hopes higher levels of government will conduct research necessary to put policies in place and pointed to the example set by France, which banned cellphone use in schools last year.
“Even just something that simple means that (students) can concentrate on what’s happening and not worry about…the stuff that never stops when everybody is connected,” she said.
However, at last week’s council meeting, Coun. Alexa Loo said the city can still play a role in supporting youth.
“While we can’t necessarily enact legislation around things like time spent on social media, or anything else, we can ensure that we do have the facilities and programs in place to support our youth and to make sure that we have healthy, safe things for them to do,” she said.
Now that the motion has passed through council, city staff is currently in the process of drafting the letter.
