Just tell me I can’t have it…

Work In Progress, By Ivan Morgan

What do sugary soft drinks and social media have in common?
They have both been targeted by government over the years. Many years ago, a very clever senior employee in the department of Finance (one of the people we are lucky to have working for us) wrote a masterful memo on the proposed sugar tax. With clean cold logic he showed why it would not work. As a capable public servant, he had shown how the tax was not cost effective, an administrative nightmare, and poor public policy. In short, expert advice you paid for.
Cabinet imposed it anyway. They did it because it was an easy way to make you think they were doing something about obesity. Such is the nature of politics.
Our current crop of politicians is now considering a ban on social media for kids 16 or under. I am going to address this in my own clumsy way, and try not to lapse into scorn, but it’s not going to be easy.
Some say social media is a boon. Some say it is a curse. I say it is what it is and is here to stay. We as people will all have to get used to it, not ban it and ignore it.
Banning doesn’t work. For starters it’s well nigh impossible to enforce and makes the banned issue more interesting to young people.
I remember as a kid adults tried to ban rock music, making it all the more interesting. I sat through a sermon in which the reverend railed that the rock band KISS was Satan returned to Earth and must be banned to protect young people. Made me run out and get the album.
Smoking under the age of 16 was banned, so I started when I was 12 (note – it was BRUTAL to quit, smoking is stupid). Various religions banned some books, making them more interesting. Over a hundred years ago we banned alcohol here. We all know how that worked.
When my eldest was 16 a group of parents tried to have Alanis Morrisette’s new album Jagged Little Pill banned. They asked me to help. I borrowed her copy, listened to it and it remains to this day one of my favourite albums. This did not endear me to those parents, who banned their kids from listening to it. All those kids owned secret copies.
Where am I going with this? As a parent I taught my kids about the world. I didn’t ban things, I explained them.
This isn’t a debate about the dangers of social media to young minds. This is a reminder that young people need education and guidance, not banning. Banning only makes the banned thing more enticing. I wonder about adults who decide to ban things. Were they not once kids?
The trouble with banning things is it addresses the symptoms but not the problem. Banning fails because banning something doesn’t stop the demand for it.
Nobody likes being told what to do – especially kids. They’re going to do it anyway – we did.
So why the proposed ban? Politicians like to wrap themselves up in righteous causes that get them positive attention and don’t cost anything. Banning social media sends the right message to concerned parents and makes them look like they are doing something. Like the sugar tax, the fact that it doesn’t work is irrelevant.
We in this province have a host of very serious grown-up problems we need our politicians to deal with: healthcare, homelessness, skyrocketing food prices, the Churchill Falls issue – you know the list. Proposing a ban lets politicians of all stripes stand and look serious and show how much they care. They go home feeling good about themselves and, as is often the case in government, nothing actually gets done. It’s feel-good PR. It’s also nonsense.
Politicians need to stop basking in the self-righteous glow of making unenforceable laws, grow up, and deal with the serious difficult issues. Tackle the hard stuff and leave the parenting to the parents.
Ivan Morgan can be reached at ivan.morgan@gmail.com