from the not-all-of-us-were-raised-in-a-palace dept
Over the last year especially, there’s been a lot of talk about kid safety online and the role (if any) of social media in all of that. It’s a complicated topic that requires nuance, not unproven claims of social media being the cause. Getting this wrong is likely to make kids’ lives worse, not better. Blaming social media is easy. Doing the actual work of figuring out where the real problems are and how to best respond to them is hard.
Unfortunately, there are many people out there who want to spend their time boosting their own reputations by claiming they’re helping kids, without being willing to put in the actual work.
It looks like we may need to add Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, to that list. Prince Harry has a bit of a history of cosplaying as an expert on internet speech, without the actual expertise to back it up. And the latest move strikes me as a very cynical and potentially dangerous approach. Harry and Meghan launched something called “The Parents Network,” which, in theory, could be a useful set of resources for parents grappling with the challenges of raising kids in a digital era.
For example, it could feature resources from actual experts like former Techdirt podcast guest, Devorah Heitner. She has written multiple books on how to better raise kids in a digital age. Her books mostly focus on better communication between parents and kids, and not treating the internet as something icky. This will only lead kids to try to hide their usage.
And perhaps, over time, Harry and Meghan’s effort will get there. The current website provides precious few details. But what it does include seems to suggest the effort is really focused on just demonizing social media. Prince Harry and Meghan gave a big interview about this on CBS News. In the interview, Harry drops a line that is so disconnected from reality that it should turn heads.
Except… what? No, in the olden days parents did not always know what their children were up to. Yes, perhaps if you were raised in Buckingham Palace, there was always some adult keeping tabs on you, but for most adults today, childhood included an awful lot of time when parents had no idea where you were.
When I was a kid, my parents would know I was at school during school hours, but from the moment school let out until dinner time, they had no idea where I was or what I was doing. It often involved hanging out at friends, or riding bikes far away, or lots of other things that they had no visibility into. Some of it was almost certainly not particularly safe.
Indeed, there was a big study last year in the Journal of Pediatrics that suggested one major cause for the rise in depression and anxiety among teens was not social media. Instead, it was the fact that adults feel the need to hover over their kids at every waking moment, taking away their ability to have spaces where they can just hang out and be kids, not under constant surveillance.
Furthermore, it may come as a surprise to Harry, but back in those days, sometimes kids (tragically) took their own lives in the days before the internet as well. I have mentioned it in the past, but in both high school and college, I had classmates who took their own lives. It was very sad and very tragic. But surveilling them wouldn’t have changed things. Getting them actual help and treating the actual problems might have.
It’s great that Prince Harry and Meghan want to help families facing trauma. Many useful things can be done. But, kicking it off with such a false claim that kids were magically “safe” in this fictional past doesn’t help. And could, quite likely, hurt.
Filed Under: depression, families, meghan markle, mental health, parents, parents network, prince harry, suicide
from the all-the-power-with-none-of-the-accountability dept
It almost always takes a lawsuit to force the government to give up information that doesn’t present it in the best light. That’s the case here, where litigation has finally forced ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to hand over ICE use of force records.
There are plenty of reasons to deeply dislike ICE and/or desire it to be wished into the federal cornfield. These documents — obtained by journalists and shared between Business Insider, The Trace, and Type Investigations — provide more reasons for abolishing one of the most abusive entities involved in handling immigration and securing our borders.
ICE may not have racked up the kills at the same rate as other large law enforcement agencies, but for an agency that’s supposed to be handling a calmer end of the criminal spectrum (you know, immigration and customs enforcement), it’s still done plenty of killing.
That’s likely an undercount. While this is the most comprehensive look into ICE’s use-of-force habits to date, the report notes what was obtained is filled with redactions and missing essential information on at least 18 of the shootings that would give a clearer picture as to the circumstances surrounding these shootings. There’s also nothing in the released documents that indicates any officers were ever disciplined for deploying excessive force. This either means ICE has decided to withhold these records or that ICE simply has never disciplined officers over force deployment.
Chances are, it never has held an officer accountable, though. As the BI’s report points out, ICE says it turns over all use-of-force investigations to whatever local law enforcement agency it happened to be working with when these shootings occurred. Other times, ICE claims the FBI handled the investigation.
But in the files — which include an almost completely redacted use-of-force policy — show almost none of these alleged outside investigations were ever completed. The law enforcement agencies ICE claimed to have given the dubious privilege of investigating ICE-involved shootings either refused to comment or denied having followed through with the investigations dumped in their lap by departing ICE agents.
The DHS is the entity that technically should be overseeing these investigations since ICE is a DHS component and often partners with HSI (Homeland Security Investigtions) when handling things like suspected drug trafficking. But it too seems to have decided it’s someone else’s problem to make sure ICE officers aren’t breaking laws or violating rights.
What is clear is that ICE needs more oversight. And its agents need far more training when it comes to deadly force deployment.
Statements offered to reporters by ICE claim the agency holds its officers to the highest standards. But it clearly doesn’t. The incidents uncovered in the released documents show ICE agents are no different than local beat cops when it comes to deadly force. Nearby citizens are just expected to catch the occasional stray bullet — something presented as a small price to pay for living in nation blessed to be overseen by these fearless protectors of public safety.
And if you’ve been a victim of violent acts by an ICE agent, you’re just fucked. Bivens lawsuits (named after pretty much the last person to succeed in a civil rights lawsuit against federal officers) are a non-starter. The Supreme Court has regularly overturned Appeals Court decisions finding in favor of plaintiffs by declaring any clear rights violations that weren’t exactly like those experienced by Webster Bivens himself to be an unlawful “expansion” of its original findings. When it comes to suing federal agents, your best best is to be named Bivens and to have your rights violated 53 years ago.
Given this, it’s unsurprising ICE agents engage in violent, dangerous acts. There are no deterrents. The DHS doesn’t care. The FBI doesn’t care. Local law enforcement agencies are unable or unwilling to perform investigations of questionable force deployment. The courts refuse to hold federal agents accountable. And the agency itself isn’t even willing to share its use-of-force policy with the public. What’s happening now will continue to happen for years to come.
Filed Under: abolish ice, deadly force, excessive force, ftca, ice, immigration, lawsuit, public records