Lauren Hall and Lura Forcum talk with Julian Morris about research he coauthored with Ben Sperry, and Lura on social media’s effects on kids amid policy proposals in France, the UK, Australia, and US states to ban or heavily restrict youth social media. Morris argues bans spread via an “availability cascade” driven by concerns about adolescent mental health, grooming, and exploitation, but the evidence for a strong causal link is weak: many studies find statistically significant yet very small effects, with device/social media use explaining about 1% of variation in mental health. They stress harms and benefits vary by child; one-size-fits-all bans can hurt groups who benefit from online communities, such as LGBT and autistic kids. Examples from China’s gaming limits and Australia’s under-16 ban show widespread circumvention and substitution effects, plus privacy and access problems with age verification. The conversation emphasizes parental relationships, modeling, and teaching judgment, alongside broader concerns about overscheduled childhood and reduced independent play.00:00 Welcome And Setup01:36 Why Bans Catch On04:09 Mental Health Trend Link08:02 Evidence And Effect Sizes14:59 Not One Size Fits All19:31 Do Bans Work In Practice25:50 Age Verification Tradeoffs29:33 Parenting Skills Over Bans32:38 Modeling And Household Rules34:17 Early Internet vs Social Media35:54 Playful Design and Regulation37:21 Parenting Tradeoffs and Screens39:54 Phone Bans and Context42:59 Sugar Donuts and Self Control45:13 Banning Kids from Public Space46:52 Overscheduling Drives Screen Time54:07 Free Play Builds Self Governance56:18 Rethinking Childhood Not Bans57:34 Optimism About AI Tools01:00:09 Where to Find Julian01:01:37 Wrap Up and Thanks

Resources and Further Reading

* The Forbidden Feed: Adolescent Well-Being and the Limits of Social Media Regulation (white paper)

* To Get Kids Offline, Let Them Go Outside (op-ed summary of the research)

* Let Grow, an organization devoted to increasing (age-appropriate) independence in American childhoods

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