Dr. Vanderwater

11/11/2025

DENMARK AIMS TO BAN SOCIAL MEDIA ACCESS FOR THOSE UNDER AGE 15. PERHAPS CANADA COULD FOLLOW THIS EXAMPLE …. YOUR CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH IS IMPORTANT

Denmark's government aims to ban access to social media for children aged under 15

Nation joins a growing global clampdown on Big Tech, proposing strict age limits with limited parental opt-in.

11/7/2025

Denmark’s government on Friday announced an agreement to ban access to social media for anyone under 15, ratcheting up pressure on Big Tech platforms as concerns grow that kids are getting too swept up in a digitized world of harmful content and commercial interests.

The move, led by the Ministry of Digitalization, aims to set the age limit for access to social media but give some parents—after a specific assessment—the right to give consent to let their children access social media from age 13.

Such a measure would be among the most sweeping steps yet by a European government to limit use of social media among teens and younger children, which has drawn concerns in many parts of an increasingly online world.

It follows a move in December in Australia, where parliament enacted the world’s first ban on social media for children—setting the minimum age at 16.

That made platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram subject to fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts.

The Danish ministry statement said the age minimum of 15 would be introduced for “certain” social media, though it did not specify which ones. Nor did the statement indicate how such a move would be enforced in a world where millions of children have easy access to screens.

Read: Dr. Jabir Jassam: Have fun under the sun

But the move nonetheless was likely to stir debate well beyond Denmark’s borders.

A coalition of lawmakers from the political right, left and centre “are making it clear that children should not be left alone in a digital world where harmful content and commercial interests are too much a part of shaping their everyday lives and childhoods,” the ministry said.

“Children and young people have their sleep disrupted, lose their peace and concentration, and experience increasing pressure from digital relationships where adults are not always present,” it said. “This is a development that no parent, teacher or educator can stop alone."

Pressure from tech giants' business models was “too massive,” the ministry said. It cited a comment from Digitalization Minister Caroline Stage saying Danish authorities were “finally drawing a line in the sand and setting a clear direction.”

Many governments have been grappling with ways of limiting harmful fallout from online technologies, without overly squelching their promise.

China—which manufacturers many of the world's digital devices—has set limits on online game time and smart-phone time for kids. Prosecutors in Paris this week announced an investigation into allegations that TikTok allows content promoting su***de and that its algorithms may encourage vulnerable young people to take their own lives.

The European Union-wide Digital Services Act forbids children younger than 13 to hold accounts on social media like TikTok and Instagram, video sharing platforms like YouTube and Twitch, sites like Reddit and Discord, as well as AI companions. Some EU lawmakers want to raise the age to 16 during a Nov. 24 vote in the European Parliament.

The 27-nation EU’s executive, the European Commission, issued guidelines in July to strengthen protection of minors and rolled out a prototype of an age-verification app.

Rasmus Lund-Nielsen, an Danish lawmaker of the Moderates party, said social media has become “the Wild West.”

“Every other 10-year-old is on TikTok, but now we are setting a limit,” he said. “It is not just a parental responsibility to protect children from seeing Charlie Kirk being shot in the throat on social media.”

“When 60% of boys do not see their friends outside of school, only 12% of girls exercise enough to meet (World Health Organization) recommendations and 15% receive a psychiatric diagnosis before they turn 18, society must step in and take responsibility,” he said. “Now we are giving children their childhood back.”

10/22/2025

Sanity Check …. An Excellent Synopsis of The State of Investment Markets.

Sanity Check Posted on October 20, 2025October 20, 2025 by kk Long time! It’s been a while and a lot has happened since I posted here back in February. But to me, it doesn’t feel like much. The big thing, I suppose, was liberation day. A lot of people asked me about that, and frankly, I just shr...

10/10/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1796dLtAtW/?mibextid=wwXIfr

𝐃𝐑𝐔𝐆 𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: There is an increase in suspected drug related deaths in Barrie and surrounding area. To learn more, visit:
https://ow.ly/nTv950X69LE

10/10/2025

Amazing

Toronto surgeons have made Canadian medical history with the country’s first-ever heart transplant using a heart that had stopped beating before donation. The groundbreaking procedure, performed at Toronto General Hospital in early September, was led by Dr. Seyed Alireza Rabi and Dr. Michael McDonald’s team at UHN’s Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. Unlike traditional transplants that use hearts from brain-dead donors, this donation-after-circulatory-death (DCC) method allows hearts to be revived and reused under strict medical conditions. UHN says the innovation could expand Canada’s heart donor pool by up to 30 percent — a major step forward as nearly 200 people remain on the waiting list. The patient who received the heart is reported to be recovering well.

09/11/2025

“Life is like a train. You don’t stay at every stop,and not everyone rides with you until the end”

I found Wisdom in these Words. Read On to Fully Appreciate Her Understandingof Life Experiences

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1G69XMgUkG/?mibextid=wwXIfr

My grandma had a saying she repeated often: “Life is like a train, child. You don’t stay at every stop, and not everyone rides with you until the end.”

As a child, I didn’t really understand what she meant. I thought it was just one of her old-timey sayings, like the ones she whispered while sewing or baking pies. But now, as the years pass and my own hair turns gray, I see the truth in her words.

When you’re young, the train is loud, fast, and crowded. Everyone seems to be on board—friends from school, neighbors, coworkers, family. The compartments are filled with laughter, plans, and noise. It feels like the ride will last forever.

But as the journey goes on, people get off. Some step off at new stops because their path takes them elsewhere. Some are lost suddenly, leaving behind empty seats we can’t bear to look at. And slowly, the train grows quieter.

That’s when Grandma’s wisdom comes alive. She said the secret wasn’t to mourn every passenger who leaves, but to cherish the ones who are still sitting beside you. To look out the window and notice the scenery, because it changes constantly—sunrises, fields, cities, mountains, all part of the same ride.

Now, when I visit her memory in my heart, I can almost hear her voice:
“Don’t be afraid when the train empties out. Be grateful you had company for as long as you did. And when your stop finally comes, step off with peace, knowing you traveled well.”

Life really is like a train—filled with comings and goings, goodbyes and reunions, noise and quiet. And if we’re lucky, by the time we reach the last station, we’ll realize the ride was beautiful, not because it was perfect, but because it was ours.

07/24/2025

Congratulations: RVH is an Excellent Teaching Hospital . Keep this up !