Why Wales shouldn’t ban under 16s from using social media like Australia
By Bethany Gavaghan – Wales Online
Using social media wisely has never been more important, but is banning it altogether for young teenagers really the way to go? I don’t think so.
The Australian government is banning under 16s from social media in a valid attempt to mitigate the “harm” it says it is causing children. But to me, this simply feels like delaying the inevitable. Yes, social media can be highly problematic and super addictive. And there is harmful content which children should not be exposed to at such a young age. But I feel like keeping them from it altogether is just going to make the problem worse.
By making social media a forbidden fruit, instead of focusing on holding social media companies to account and putting harsher penalties in place for people who break the rules on what is and isn’t appropriate to publish, is just not the answer.
Surely it will only increase young people’s interest in it if anything, and it means they will not get the chance to familiarize themselves with how to use it safely and sensibly.
A brain expert, Dr Dean Burnett, who is a Welsh neuroscientist and author, interviewed a series of children for his book, ‘Why Your Parents Are Hung-Up On Your Phone And What To Do About It’, and one of the key things he found was that children are not actually as bothered about phones and social media as we think they are.
He explained recently, when he spoke to Wales Online about some of his research: “I’ve spoken to loads of children as part of my own research and their general attitudes to phone and social media are much less alarming than some people might think. Most of them, because they have grown up with it, are not overly obsessed with the concept of posting and being on it all the time. Lots of them just see it as part of life, so it’s our job to help them use it in the best way.”
In the UK, 24.3% of people use social media for work, according to recent figures from Backlinko, a company specializing in SEO. This means that adapting to social media from a personal and professional perspective has never been more important.
Parents being concerned about social media and how their children use it is valid. Seven in ten children aged between nine and 13 say they have been exposed to harmful experiences or content online according to data released by charity Internet Matters in September. A fifth of children in the same age group had been contacted by a stranger online.
However, the problem lies more with social media companies not properly safeguarding teenagers and other users effectively. While banning under 16s may work as a short-term quick fix, it may not be the answer to solving the wider issue of how people use social media or preventing harmful content from being shown.
Having better parental controls or creating more open dialogues about teenagers’ online activities seems like a more effective approach to dealing with something that will be a significant part of their lives.
Summary: Banning under 16s from social media in Wales, like Australia, may not be the most effective solution. Educating young people on how to use social media safely could be a better approach to addressing the challenges associated with its use.