Protecting Teens Means Rebuilding Community, Not Just Removing Screens
- The White Hatter
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Caveat - We believe that youth and teens need more outdoor play, but just this week a school insurer in the province of Quebec passed down these guidelines, "for safe sliding, for the 2026-2026 school year include a maximum snow mound height between 1.8 and three metres, a "moderate" 25 per cent slope, clearly identified zones for both climbing up and a waiting area, a layout plan, a supervision plan and a daily inspection log.” Yup, we kid you not! (1) The relevance of this story will become clear as you read through this article.
Many parents and caregivers want to protect youth and teens from the worst parts of social media. When headlines focus on harm, removing access can feel decisive and responsible. The problem is that bans do not exist in isolation. They land in a world where many of the offline spaces youth and teens once relied on have quietly disappeared, or have become inaccessible due to cost, policy, or social attitudes.
For decades, when youth and teens were bored, lonely, stressed, or just looking for connection, they had options. They played pickup sports, they spent time at youth clubs, and they biked around their neighbourhoods. They gathered in parks, community centres, and public spaces with limited adult oversight. In many communities, those options no longer exist in meaningful or affordable ways.
Across North America, playing fields have been sold to developers, locked behind organized leagues, or left unusable due to social challenges linked to lack of affordable housing and addiction. Youth and teen clubs have closed because of funding cuts and liability concerns. Curfews and loitering policies restrict normal youth and teen behaviour in public spaces. Public bathrooms are closed or locked at night. Transit costs make it expensive for youth and teens to travel to activities. Malls increasingly ban unescorted youth and teens. Even unstructured outdoor play in groups is often treated with suspicion rather than encouragement.
At the same time, sports and extracurricular activities outside of school have become financially out of reach for many families. Registration fees, equipment costs, travel expenses, and private coaching have turned what were once community activities into luxury experiences. Large numbers of youth and teens are excluded before they ever step onto a field, into a gym, or into a rink.
When we remove social media without restoring these lost spaces, we are not redirecting youth and teens. We are leaving them with fewer places to go, both physically and socially.
Social media did not replace a thriving youth and teen ecosystem for many young people. It filled a gap left behind by adult decisions, policy choices, and economic realities. For better or worse, online spaces became where friendships formed, identities were explored, and support was found.
This matters even more for youth and teens who feel marginalized, live in rural areas, lack transportation, or cannot afford extracurriculars. For these youth and teens, online spaces are not a luxury, they are often the most accessible social outlet available.
When access is banned, youth and teens do not automatically become more connected offline, and many feel more isolated. Others migrate to less visible platforms, private messaging apps, or emerging digital spaces that are harder for parents and caregivers to understand or engage with, which can increase risk rather than reduce it.
Bans also affect families unevenly. Youth and teens from well resourced households may still have access to private clubs, organized sports, camps, and safe gathering spaces. Youth and teens from lower income families often do not. Removing one of the few accessible social spaces without offering an affordable alternative widens existing social gaps instead of closing them.
If the goal is to reduce unhealthy online behaviour, prohibition alone cannot be the starting point. Protection has to include rebuilding what was taken away from youth and teens. However, that requires real investment in offline life. Affordable community sports need to be accessible again. Youth and teen centres, along with safe places to gather, need to reopen and be supported. Teens should be allowed to do ordinary things like sled down snowbanks, and policies that punish or prohibit normal adolescent behaviour need to be reconsidered. Communities should be designed so teens feel welcome, trusted, and valued. When young people have places to go and ways to connect in the real world, the online world stops being the only place they belong.
Parents and caregivers are not powerless, and the solution does not have to be all or nothing. Removing access without rebuilding opportunity asks youth and teens to give up one of the few easily and affordable spaces still available to them.
Protection works best when it is paired with community, connection, opportunity, and trust. That balance is something many adults have lost sight of, and it is worth reclaiming.
Digital Food for Thought
The White Hatter
Facts Not Fear, Facts Not Emotions, Enlighten Not Frighten, Know Tech Not No Tech
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