> its forcing kids with no credit cards to download free and malware ridden ones

It very much is not.

It very much is. Free VPNs almost always have some sort of catch. E.g. HolaVPN users agree in the ToS to become an exit node for other VPN users: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hola_(VPN)

If social media is so compelling, then teens almost certainly will take whatever steps are necessary to access it.

Because social media is so easy to cut out you dont need to ban it or its so addictive you do?