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America’s Top Doctor on Why He Wants Warning Labels on Social Media

The Daily

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Reengineering Our Relationship with Technology is Difficult but Achievable

Implementing warning labels on social media to address the societal costs associated with technology is a step towards reengineering our relationship with technology, which may not be easy but is achievable. Drawing parallels to the successful reduction of smoking rates in the U.S., the speaker believes that with a combination of community education programs, advocacy, and legislation, it is possible to significantly improve mental health and well-being in children by addressing the challenges posed by excessive technology use.

00:00
Speaker 2
let's say that Congress goes along with this and warning labels start to appear on social media online. We're now almost 20 years since the advent of the smartphone. 2007 was the first iPhone I remember getting in one. Entire generations have formed their habits around these devices. And, you know, as we've discussed, there have been some real benefits, but also there are some steep societal costs. Someone I read somewhere put it that our kids are now this giant human, real-time, real-life laboratory of what all of this is going to mean. So is a label actually going to unwind that? Is it too late to unwind this?
Speaker 1
I don't think it's too late. I think about smoking in our country in 1964, when the first Surgeon General's report on tobacco was issued. At that time, 42% of Americans smoked. There were advertisements everywhere for smoking that kids could see. It was just seen as part of the culture. And there were people at that time who said, the notion that you're going to get people to stop smoking just seems unrealistic. But the combination of not just a report, but all of the action that that report helped to promote and unleash community education programs, advocacy from parents, legislation from Congress and from state and local legislatures, together over the years, that helped us take us from 42% to below 12%. That, hey, And there were people at that time who said, the notion that you're going to get people to stop smoking just seems unrealistic. us save countless lives. So is it going to be easy to change and re-engineer our relationship to social media and to make social media safer? No, it's not going to be easy. It's going to be complicated. But I firmly believe that as a nation, America can do hard things. We've done hard things before. And what better time than on this issue when what's at stake is the mental health and well-being of our kids?
Speaker 2
Do your kids know what your job is?

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