It’s highly unlikely
But, on Friday, 29th November 2024, the Australian government did pass a ground breaking bill to ban all children and teenagers under the age of 16 from using social media.
As a world-first initiative, there is no clear vision as to how it will be implemented. But it seems the responsibility will fall on social media platforms themselves to develop tools that will enforce said ban.
Can we trust these companies to do this effectively?
Is it even in their interest to try?
The answers are likely no and no.
The Australian government has mentioned penalties for situations where young people find workarounds, but enforcing this will be no small feat.
Unsurprisingly, the bill has faced significant backlash. It comes from those who see the ban as a step toward enforcing digital IDs, as well as from disgruntled tweens and teenagers predicting FOMO (12 months in advance).
Personally, I don’t believe the bill itself is much more than a statement. However, I hope it’s a statement that prompts parents and teenagers reconsider their relationship with social media and their devices.
So far in my work with families on managing devices, it has become apparent that many children over the age of 12 are already lost to social media—and potentially addicted.
But there is also an increasingly strong group of people who are trying to get more balance in the way we are using technology and help younger kids avoid the pitfalls (Check out The heads up alliance).
If you already have a teenager at home using social media, or a preteen asking for Snapchat, I urge you to sit down as a family and watch the TED Talk linked below. I hope that it can start a healthy dialogue with your kids.
Dino, the speaker in the video, makes a statement in reference to Social Media: “We need to learn how to use it in moderation.”
While he specifically refers to social media, for younger children, this advice applies to any device they use. The habits they from as younger kids will inform what they do later in life. That is where us as parents and carers come in.
I started Digitalnest to try and help parents from going crazy and stop arguments. But I realise more and more it is actually helping our kids more than it is helping us. They just don’t realise it as yet.
Pete.
