Kate Winslet Feels Parents are Powerless Over Children's Social Media Usage

kate winslet Mia Threapleton I am Ruth Online Safety Bill Molly Russell Effects of Social Media to Children Effects of Social Media to Teenagers Social Media Dilemma Parents' Dilemma over Social Media and Children

By Jo Anne Hubert , Parent Herald Dec 06, 07:55 am

Photo: (Photo : GETTY IMAGES/John Phillips)

Social media sites should have age blocks to protect children, the actress firmly states.

In an exclusive interview with Laura Kuenssberg of BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Kate Winslet expressed how parents feel "utterly powerless" as their kids spend most of their time online and parents don't know how they can help their kids navigate social media, which is entirely a different universe.

"My God, I don't know what I'm supposed to do at all," admitted the movie megastar. "I just think that the people who know that they could do better to protect our children should just be doing that. Whoever those people are, they know who they are, they should just step up and do better," she said.

The Hollywood A-star stated that there should be more exhaustive security checks and that the government should push social media firms to impose age limits as this can be a start to get a grip of the real impact of social media on the mental health of children.

Sharing her thoughts on the cause of the problem, the actress said that children are now having phones at a much earlier age, and with this is an access to things that they are not yet emotionally equipped to handle and process.

She added that there should be "more protection and accountability" because they as parents "are left flailing". She suggested banning some online platforms and accused the tech firms and government of "shirking responsibility".

New film that reflects the dilemma

Winslet further admitted that she struggles with social media, and more so with the clear impact it has towards teenage mental health, The News reported.

The actress' new film confronts this social media dilemma head on. The drama entitled, "I am Ruth" tells of a story about a mother,Winslet's character, in despair trying to get her daughter out of the whirlpool of social media, which is causing the latter's mental health problems.

The 17-year-old daughter named Freya, played by Winslet's real-life daughter, Mia Threapleton, is shown in the film becoming less and less expressive and conversational, with school grades falling behind, withdrawing further into herself as her relationship with social media becomes more destructive.

Winslet stated that the film is so much more about a kid being obsessed with her phone. The drama tackles the hard things that parents get to witness and encounter - what is actually going on with their kid's phone, the impacts it has on their self-esteem, their eating habits, and their mental state, especially their thoughts about self-harm and self-disgust.

The Oscar winner yearns that the film will open doors for serious conversations about how vulnerable children are and come up with solutions.

Online Safety Bill

Winslet's comments and film may have just come perfectly in a time when the government is being accused of "watering down legislation," which was aimed to regulate internet content.

Ministers have dropped the plans in the past week from the Online Safety Bill, which would have required tech firms to take down legal yet harmful materials.

Ian Russell, the father of teenager Molly Russell, who ended her life after being exposed to self-harm and suicide contents in the social media, was vocal with his opinion about the bill being diminished was due to "political reasons to help it pass more quickly."

However, Culture Secretary Miche, expressed that there could be a "misunderstanding" over Russell's opinion,

She informed BBC Radio 4's Today that there is nothing "getting watered down or taken out" when it comes to the kids. In fact, she stressed that the revised bill she is bringing back to Parliament, which she called "strengthened Online Safety Bill" offers "a triple shield of protection" - removal of illegal content, removal of materials that violate terms and conditions, and users are given control to avoid being exposed to certain types of content to be specified by the bill.