Regarding the Aug. 27 editorial “The Meta settlement won’t make the kids alright”:
The Editorial Board is correct to argue that the ultimate responsibility for kids’ online safety lies with parents. However, the potential impact of the agreement between states and Meta should not be minimized.
As a parent of two, I know how important it is to take a hands-on role in children’s use of technology and social media. We have had family conversations about everything from when our children can get a phone to how they should be using apps.
But I often find myself needing more tools, and in my work on youth mental health, I have heard the same from parents across the country. Meta’s agreement gives parents important new tools: expanded controls over content, options to disable features such as autoplay, time limits and strengthened parental supervision tools. Coupled with changes such as blocking teens from seeing likes and reactions or using extreme makeup filters, these tools will make a major difference.
The primary roadblock here is not, as the Editorial Board argues, that some of these features can be turned off or that teens will try to find a way around them (though surely many will). The main obstacle is that teens today are spending a lot of time on platforms other than Facebook and Instagram.
According to a 2025 Pew Research study, the most widely used apps among teens were YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. Many teens are also using Snapchat, Discord, Twitch, Reddit and Roblox. All platforms where children are spending time should follow Meta’s lead. Otherwise, teens may well move to sites with fewer restrictions and lower safety standards.
Glen Weiner, Tarrytown, New York
The writer is executive director of the Coalition to Empower our Future.
Two stories about teenagers have dominated the news cycle in recent months.
First, teen takeovers — those large, seemingly spontaneous, sometimes out-of-control gatherings of young people that flood city blocks, malls, beaches and other public and commercial spots.
Second, the class action lawsuits brought by 47 states, the District of Columbia and other U.S. territories, accusing Meta of hiding internal research showing Instagram is addictive and harmful for teenagers.
Americans just learned the outcome of the latter story. If we want a satisfactory resolution to the teen takeover story, let’s demand that Meta, TikTok and other social media behemoths fund sustainable, teen-friendly third spaces — social settings separate from home, work or school.
These could be grants awarded to teens to design their own third spaces in their own neighborhoods. The grants could fund research and development and provide money for jobs and trusts for upkeep and insurance.
Who said one wrong can’t right another?
David Lopilato, Bethesda
How to tackle the retirement state
Regarding the Aug. 30 editorial “To get the national debt under control, start with the retirement state”:
Urging cuts to Social Security benefits for better‑off retirees sounds like Willie Sutton explaining why he robbed banks: “That’s where the money is.” For 50 years, the Social Security Administration withdrew funds from my paychecks and assured me those contributions would finance my retirement. When Congress raised payroll taxes to build a trust fund, politicians made the same promises.
Now, after the federal government has spent the trust fund contributions and their earnings, some lawmakers propose reducing benefits for the very people who paid the most into the system. If Congress wants to end its underfunded liability, it should place the retirement system under independent trustees with full investment and actuarial discretion, as public pension plans already do.
But first, it should return to taxpayers their trust fund contributions and the returns they would have earned if they had been invested in the market. Solvency should not be achieved by breaking past promises.
Kevin Villani, La Jolla, California
The first problem with the retirement state is the definition of a senior. According to the Social Security Administration, when the program was signed into law in 1935, life expectancy at birth was 67 for men and 74 for women. For those born in 2025, it is 82 for men and 86 for women. When Social Security began, starting payments as early as 62 was very wise. The average person collected for only a few years, regardless of the individual’s financial situation. But today, Americans can still receive benefits at 62, even though the average person will live 20 more years.
Rather than reduce benefits, lawmakers should increase the minimum age to 72. This solution seems simple, but it would take bipartisan courage.
Howard Pedolsky, Rockville
What is the solution to the ridiculously large national debt, and how can lawmakers package and sell it? I suggest that any proposals be implemented alongside the policy once suggested by Warren Buffett: Pass a law stating that any year the national deficit goes over 3 percent of gross domestic product, nobody currently in Congress can run for reelection. Unfortunately, there is a small chance of this ever happening unless people start demanding action from their representatives.
As Americans have observed for too many years, it is always easy to spend someone else’s money.
Robert Veale, Elizabeth City, North Carolina
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