Leeds locals reflect on WhatsApp age being lowered
WhatsApp has lowered the age at which you can use it from 16 to 13 - what age do you think is right for children to have a smartphone and how much time should they spend online / using apps?
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00:00 My first time getting a phone was when I was about 13 years old,
00:06 but I barely even used WhatsApp.
00:09 I don't think it should be appropriate for kids,
00:13 especially teenagers, because these generations these days,
00:17 it's quite, I don't know, concerning.
00:21 Parents need to take a lot more responsibility in terms of checking
00:24 and understanding what their children are on,
00:26 in terms of both WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, the lot.
00:29 If we look at a lot of the data related to that,
00:31 we find that there's quite a bit of data linked to mental health,
00:35 particularly with young girls,
00:37 but that's not to say that boys are excluded from that by any means.
00:40 WhatsApp is just your contact number, so as long as you've got...
00:44 It's just people that you know, it's probably not too deep.
00:47 Social media is quite a tricky one with kids.
00:49 I think there should be more protections in place, potentially.
00:54 You can't exactly stop them, I don't think,
00:56 because it's such an integral part of the world nowadays.