Denmark just did what most parents wish they could do alone.
They banned social media for every child under 15.
Not because kids are too young, but because their brains are.
For years, we’ve asked 12-year-olds to manage dopamine loops designed for adult nervous systems.
We’ve told kids to “use it responsibly” while algorithms study their impulses faster than their prefrontal cortex can grow.
We’ve blamed attention problems, anxiety, body image spirals, and sleep collapse on “kids these days,” when the truth is simpler:
We handed developing brains a system built to overwhelm them.
Here’s what the science has been saying for a decade:
➡️ The adolescent brain has no brakes yet.
The prefrontal cortex, the part that handles impulse control and long-term thinking, won’t fully mature until around 25. Meanwhile, the limbic system is in overdrive, wired for risk, thrill, and peer approval.
➡️ Dopamine hits land harder in puberty.
Every like, ping, and notification trains the reward system to chase quick pleasure over deep focus. Teens aren’t weak. Their neurology is vulnerable.
➡️ Algorithms outpace self-regulation.
Recommendation systems optimize for outrage, extremes, and stickiness, not safety. Kids don’t choose what they see. The algorithm does.
➡️ Mental health data tells a clear story.
Since the rise of smartphones, teen depression has climbed sharply.
Anxiety, self-harm, attention struggles, and body image distress follow the same curve.
That’s why Denmark didn’t wait for families to fight this battle one household at a time.
They built a boundary at the national level, not to limit freedom, but to protect development.
This isn’t regression.
It’s leadership.
It’s choosing nervous system health over market reach.
It’s acknowledging what every neuroscientist already knows:
When your brain is still wiring itself, the inputs that shape it matter.
And protecting kids from engineered addiction isn’t censorship.
It’s care.
Denmark set to ban social media platforms for children under 15
Article
Denmark: Government announces plans to ban social media
for children under 15
A majority of parties in parliament said they would back the plan ahead of a formal vote... According to an analysis from the Danish competition and consumer authority from February this year, youngsters in the Nordic country spend on average 2 hours and 40 minutes every day on social media.
Denmark follows the likes of Australia, which last year imposed a ban on social media for children under 16.
Denmark will ban the use of social media for children under the age of 15, the Danish government said on Friday, although parents will be allowed to give dispensation for youngsters down to the age of 13 to access certain platforms.
The move follows Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's call in her opening speech to parliament last month for social media restrictions for children due to concerns over youth mental health.
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