There is a debate across Europe about allowing children to use mobile phones. Banning them from schools is the demand, or one demand at least. I don’t know enough about the issues and it doesn’t apply to me. I’m quite happy for others to do what they think best.
However, I do remember a similar moral panic in the 1980s. People were concerned about children watching television. What they watch. How often. Parents were advised to monitor their children’s viewing habits. It rots the brain, you see.
The only source of information that the president of the USA understands is television. As a former game show host, this is only natural. He has appointed dozens of Fox News presenters to important positions in the government. Daily security briefings in the White House are performed in Fox News style, with advisers pretending to be TV presenters. And now we have the LA disturbances – great television.
So should we ban children from using mobiles? Should we ban them from watching television? I think the evidence shows that the overwhelming majority of people are fine. They understand the difference between the real world and what they see on a screen, and they behave accordingly.
Unfortunately, there are those who become addicted, and are unable to function normally, as a result of the distorted view they have of the world. I don’t know what to do in such cases, but they should never, ever, be allowed to become president.