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Crossroads
JUST DANCE
RACHEAL FLINTOFT
Crossroads This Week
The idea of restricting children’s access to social media and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots is making recent waves, a proposed future Manitoba policy Premier Wab Kinew says is needed to protect youth mental health.
The Premier announced the plan this past weekend, stating that technology platforms are designed to hack the biological reward systems in the brain. Kinew linked social media apps to rising rates of anxiety and depression among young people, specifically pointing to the “infinite scroll” features and AI tools that amplify social comparisons. While the province hasn’t set
DARRELL NESBITT/CROSSROADS THIS WEEK
Celebrating 49 years of culture through dance, the Shevchenko Dance Ensemble expressed the thrill and passion for Ukrainian dancing to a full house on Sunday, April 26, at the Sandy Lake Community Hall under the direction of instructor Sadie Ewashko of Erickson. Beginners, Tayla Rogasky, Clayton Drul, Claudia Susinski, and Tessa Yanyk, from left, were among the 35 youth and 11 adult dancers to perform.
an official age limit or explained how it would police international tech companies, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt suggested Monday that schools might be the starting point. Schmidt told reporters that the first phase could roll out in classrooms, comparing the move to the cell phone restrictions already in place across Manitoba.
Val Caldwell, an independent consultant, and public speaker based in Harding, said the conversation is necessary but has questions about the logistics. Caldwell, who frequently lectures students and parents on digital safety in various schools across the region, including Birtle Collegiate and Minnedosa Collegiate, pointed out that current 13-plus age limits are
already easy to bypass.
“I definitely do think age restrictions are an important part of the discussion, I’m just not sure how the ban itself rolls out,” Caldwell said. “Currently social media platforms are 13-plus and yet there are five-year-olds with accounts.”
