The Federal Government’s announcement that Australian kids will be blocked from social media until a certain age has received a mixed response from across the nation’s education landscape.
The Government plans to introduce legislation this year to enforce a minimum age for access to social media and other relevant digital platforms, though no age has yet been set.
A growing body of research has found that adolescents who spend more than three hours per day on social media face double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes, including symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Young people also have significant safety concerns about the online environment, with 31% of 16–19-year-old Australians reporting image-based sexual abuse, 66% expecting to encounter privacy or security issues, and 85% considering it likely they will have negative interactions with strangers.
Studies have also linked social media to reduced academic outcomes, with a staggering 89% of teachers saying social media is having a negative impact on children's reading habits. Three quarters (75%) of those surveyed in the Reluctant Readers study believe students who cannot read at an expected level will be ill-equipped to access the curriculum, impacting on their ATAR results.
“We know social media is causing social harm, and it is taking kids away from real friends and real experiences,” Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese said in a statement. “We’re supporting parents and keeping kids safe by taking this action, because enough is enough.”
Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, said as a mother of young daughters, she fully understand concerns around harmful online environments and addictive social media behaviour of children.
“Parents want real solutions and we are taking decisive action to identify and implement these very solutions to help ensure young people can use the internet in a safe and positive way that supports their learning and their lives,” Minister Rowland said.
“We are also holding big tech to account because platforms and online services have a key responsibility for the safety of their users. We will continue to engage experts, young people, advocates and parents through the age assurance trial which is an important aspect of this journey.”
‘Banning social media is not the answer’
However, some experts say banning social media for children is a short-sighted response.
Associate Professor Laura Scholes, who works at the Australian Catholic University’s Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, is an expert in digital critical literacy. She says banning social media is not the answer.
“Governance around bans on social media for young people is not practical. Setting an age limit just makes invisible the critical need to equip young people with the skills they need now and into the future,” Associate Professor Scholes told The Educator.
“Once young people reach the mandated age limit, what then? Research shows even young adults experience adverse effects from social media.”
Associate Professor Scholes said the ability to critically read and evaluate social media is increasingly vital.
“There is escalating alarm in the community however as young people do not have literacies essential for healthy consumption,” she said.
“Young people urgently need advanced literacies to optimize the benefits of online social engagement while mitigating the negative consequences of social media use.”
Unlike, traditional media, social media demands critical literacy competencies to navigate generative AI tools, says Associate Professor Scholes.
“Traditional media literacy taught in schools is based on mass media produced independent of the individual consumer,” she said. “It does not account for individual beliefs and values, the porous boundaries between media production and choices of the user.”
Social media education also does not account for the insidious impact of algorithms with an urgent need for new media principles to inform teaching in schools, Associate Professor Scholes noted.
“We need to equip young people to navigate online spaces such as social media,” she said.
“This approach needs to be shared with effect from parents, teachers, schools, and the broader community. We also need to advocate and push for social media companies to provide safer platforms for young people.”
Ban helps address serious issues in schools, say principals
The Australian Government Primary Principals Association (AGPPA), which represents more than 1.6 million students and 5,300 leaders, said it fully supports the Federal Government’s ban on children gaining access to social media sites.
“Although social media sites have age restrictions, primary principals throughout Australia know a significant number of students in our schools are regularly users of these sites,” AGPPA president, Pat Murphy, told The Educator.
“This creates significant issues in our schools and the wider community as students don’t have the emotional maturity to recognise the associated issues.”
Murphy said bullying and other associated anti-social behaviour is prevalent using these methods of communication which has a massive impact on the well-being of students.
“It is clear that currently these social media sites are not adequately controlling access from children and legislation is required to prohibit minors gaining easy access to these sites.”
‘Social media ban could be a silver bullet, or fail terribly’
Associate Professor Susanne Schweizer from the UNSW School of Psychology has been researching how social media impacts youth cognition and emotional development and mental health.
She says research on social influence suggests a social media ban “could be the silver bullet, or backfire terribly.”
“If a ban is rigorously implemented it could offer young people who are sensitive to the effects of social media a reprieve from its pressures,” Associate Professor Schweizer said.
“Unfortunately, it will also remove opportunities for connection for highly vulnerable groups, such as young people from certain minority groups and those with certain types of neurodivergence, who greatly benefit form connecting with peers online.”