Look at your children in Nelson Mandela Bay and ask yourself one question: “Has my child moved from play based leisure to phone based leisure?”
If the answer is Yes then you need to watch the video below in which 60 Minutes Australia asks the question; “Will the world-first social media ban work?”
We all say that we are glad that we are not parents of teens these days but when reality such as that depicted in the video hits we realise that we are ALL responsible.
At a recent 13th Birthday Party for Nicholas we organised a old school type party – swimming, football, socialising, slip ‘n slide, trampoline, pizza and loads of sugar. I was prevented from playing Red Rover, Red Rover and Pass the Parcel but maybe we should save those for his 21st and then we could play Spin the Bottle too!
BUT, what shocked me was the number of young children who chose to rather spend time glued to their screens than enjoy the play based leisure AND, worse than that was the children that HID THEIR SCREENS every time an adult approached.
My take on that is that if you as a child are aware enough to know that what you are doing would make an adult uncomfortable and worried for your safety then you are old enough to have all your devices taken away from you.
OH, as an aside – should I be pissed off that my Wi-Fi password is handed out like candy to any small miscreant that demands it? Surely a; “Do you mind if I connect to your Wi-Fi is the right way to go?”
Anyway – watch the video below and good luck with the fight for your child’s mental health.
What led to Australia’s Social Media Ban?
The Australian government’s decision to ban social media accounts for children under the age of 16 was driven by intense and widespread concern over the negative impact of social media on the mental health, safety, and well-being of adolescents.
The ban, passed in late 2024 and coming into effect this month (December 2025), is the culmination of a national movement and a legislative response to perceived systemic harms.
Here are the key factors that led to the ban:
1. The Mental Health Crisis and Harmful Algorithms
- Rising Rates of Self-Harm and Suicide: Australian officials highlighted a correlation between excessive social media use and rising rates of mental illness, self-harm, and suicidal ideation among young Australians (Generation Z and Alpha).
- Body Image Issues and Low Self-Esteem: The algorithms of social media platforms were criticized for driving young users (particularly girls) towards content that promoted unrealistic body standards, cyberbullying, and negative social comparisons.
- Addictive Design: The platforms’ use of addictive algorithms and design features (like infinite scroll and notifications) that encourage prolonged screen time and contribute to sleep deprivation were a major focus of concern.
2. Concerns Over Online Safety and Exploitation
- Cyberbullying and Harassment: High rates of cyberbullying and harassment among young Australians were consistently cited as a reason to restrict access, with social media being the primary hub for this activity.
- Sexual Exploitation and Grooming: The government emphasized that being logged into an account increases the risk of exposure to online predators, grooming, and disturbing, harmful, or hateful content.
- Deepfake Abuse: The eSafety Commissioner noted the alarming frequency of deepfake image-based abuse occurring in Australian classrooms, facilitated by these platforms.
3. Public and Political Pressure
- Parental Demand: The government stated that an overwhelming majority of Australian parents demanded that action be taken to protect their children from online harms.
- “Let Them Be Kids” Campaign: A national campaign, backed by media and child-safety advocates, pushed for the minimum age for social media access to be raised from the platforms’ standard 13 to 16.
- Bipartisan Support: The measure received rare cross-party support in Parliament, indicating the broad consensus that the issue required a decisive response.
The Government’s Rationale
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese framed the ban as taking back power from big tech companies and asserting the right of children to be children. The legislation puts the onus entirely on the social media companies (such as Meta, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, and X) to take “reasonable steps” to verify users’ ages and prevent anyone under 16 from creating or maintaining an account, with failure risking massive fines (up to around A$49.5 million).
And, about that age restriction:
Sue and I recently discovered that one of the boys had been accessing an account apparently strictly forbidden to anyone below the age of 13. When aske he replied that he was aware of the requirement but, like all his peers, lied and used his Mother’s account without her permission.
What is next? 12 year old’s accessing Adult Content which requires you to be 18 or 21 to proceed?
Think about it – those splash screens warning people to only proceed if a certain age are actually laughable.
FYI: Anyone under the age of is ‘technically’ prevented from creating a standard YouTube account. A parent must use Google’s Family Link app to create and manage a supervised Google Account, which then allows the child to use the limited YouTube Kids app or a supervised experience on the main YouTube app with parent-selected content settings.
From bitter experience I know that the above is just words and entirely circumventable.
