<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n Earlier this month, they travelled to Canberra to present the prime minister with a petition then signed by 124,000 people \u2013 the world\u2019s largest on the topic \u2013 calling for the age limit for social media to be raised 36 months from 13 to 16. <\/p>\n
Dr. Danielle Einstein, clinical psychologist and author, says schools are navigating a minefield of interactions that are playing out online, outside school hours, on platforms that are beyond their reach. <\/p>\n
\u201cTeachers are under so much pressure to solve the fact that the culture has been undermined by social media, by this sort of mean behavior that subtly is being permitted to exist, just because it\u2019s so hard to stop,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Einstein supports the social media ban because she believes phones and group chats are replacing face-to-face interactions that teach children how to connect with people and resolve conflict. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden, any errors they make are broadcast and they go straight out to a whole group,\u201d she said. \u201cThey don\u2019t have the opportunity to make these little mistakes, and for the mistakes not to matter.\u201d <\/p>\n
Agreement between the major political parties is rare in Australia, but on this issue, they\u2019re presenting a united front. <\/p>\n
The Liberal opposition party proposed a social media age limit in June that was backed by the prime minister, then all the state and territory leaders. <\/p>\n
\u201cI want to talk to Australian parents,\u201d Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a video posted to Instagram, one of the targets of the ban. <\/p>\n
\u201cToo often social media isn\u2019t social at all, and we all know that. The truth is it\u2019s doing harm to our children, and I\u2019m calling time on it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Dany Elachi called time on it in his household a few years ago, when he and his wife caved into their daughter\u2019s demands to use their old smartphone. She was 10 at the time. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe straw that broke the camel\u2019s back, I think, for her mom and I was catching her messaging friends under the covers at midnight. And so, we just connected all these dots together. We thought, we can\u2019t do this for another 10 years.\u201d <\/p>\n
They started the Heads Up Alliance to encourage other parents to delay giving smartphones to their children, and since then their network has grown. <\/p>\n
Elachi says there\u2019s no question that social media is harming Australian kids. <\/p>\n
\u201cParents are seeing with their own eyes. I mean, there are suicide notes. Children who\u2019ve killed themselves write their suicide notes, telling us that social media played a role in their deaths, and we\u2019re seriously still debating whether social media is harmful to our children\u2019s mental health?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually disgraceful.\u201d <\/p>\n
For many experts, the debate\u2019s not so much about the negative effects of social media \u2013 but whether an outright ban is the right response. <\/p>\n
Last month, more than 140 experts sent a joint letter to the government saying the ban is a \u201cblunt\u201d response to the problem that removes the incentive for tech companies to invest in more ways to keep children safe online. <\/p>\n
This week, a joint select committee investigating social media in Australia seemed to agree. Its final report, after months of public hearings and hundreds of submissions, did not call for a ban. <\/p>\n
Instead, it recommended that laws be changed to \u201ceffectively bring digital platforms under Australian jurisdiction,\u201d and that any changes that affect young people should be \u201cco-designed with young people.\u201d <\/p>\n
Amanda Third, co-director of the Young and Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney University, says for many children, the current sign-up age of 13 is \u201centirely appropriate.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea of a ban is incredibly seductive for parents, because it feels like it\u2019s just going to take that off your list of things to worry about,\u201d she said. \u201cBut in actual fact, a ban is not going to deliver the relief that parents are looking for. It\u2019s a fact of life that this will continue to be a key part of parenting into the future.\u201d <\/p>\n
She believes calls for a ban are \u201cmotivated by political and economic issues.\u201d The two major parties that support the ban will contest a federal election next year. And media heavyweight News Corporation, which has pushed for the ban, has a separate dispute with Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram. <\/p>\n
Meta announced in March it would stop paying Australian providers for news, provoking a furious reaction from News Corp, the dominant player in Australia\u2019s highly concentrated news industry. <\/p>\n
News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller delivered a nationally televised speech in June calling for the government to push Meta to pay, saying, \u201cWe can\u2019t let ourselves be bullied.\u201d <\/p>\n
News Corp had launched its \u201cLet Them Be Kids\u201d campaign the month before, telling the stories of children harmed by social media and pushing for a ban for under 16s. <\/p>\n
News Corp-owned The Courier Mail recently credited the campaign with leading discussion around \u201cthe damage caused by tech platforms to young people \u2026 with that reporting now set to result in seismic changes to online laws.\u201d <\/p>\n
There\u2019s a long way to go before any ban comes into place. Even if it becomes law, the government says it\u2019ll give tech companies 12 months to comply, with the switch-off date to be set by the communications minister. <\/p>\n
In its submission to the joint committee, the Digital Industry Group Inc. (DIGI), which represents social media companies in Australia, said research to date had not established \u201ca direct causal link between social media use and youth mental health issues in Australia or globally.\u201d <\/p>\n
DIGI, whose members include Meta, Snap, TikTok and X, said it shared the government\u2019s commitment to improving online safety. <\/p>\n
X owner Elon Musk was less diplomatic in a post on his social media platform. The self-proclaimed \u201cfree speech absolutist\u201d and close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, posted that the ban \u201cseemed like a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians.\u201d <\/p>\n
Other providers have made an effort to engage on the issue. <\/p>\n
Snap Inc., whose messaging service Snapchat was allegedly used to bully Charlotte O\u2019Brien and Ella Catley-Crawford, said \u201cbullying has no place\u201d on the app, and has encouraged children who have problems to block and report offenders. <\/p>\n
Instagram, owned by Meta, recently paired up with Kids Helpline in an anti-bullying campaign \u201cHow do you mean?\u201d that asks content creators how they cope with bullying online. Asked why they wouldn\u2019t just log off, some said it would be \u201cunfair and unrealistic\u201d to leave because their community, friends and family are online. <\/p>\n
The message was that \u201ceveryone faces mean behavior\u201d but there are ways to deal with it \u2013 notably pressing a button to report and block \u2013 before seeking adult help. <\/p>\n
Some parents believe there\u2019s enough mean behavior in real life, without adding social media to the mix \u2013 especially in junior high, a time, Einstein the psychologist says, when children are forming friendship groups, and sometimes ostracizing classmates who for whatever reason aren\u2019t deemed to fit in. <\/p>\n
Pendergast, the cyber safety educator, says she\u2019s seen enough mean behavior in her travels to schools across the country to know that something needs to change. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf a simple rule protects just one child and helps them grow into a strong, resilient young person with their privacy intact, isn\u2019t that worth it?\u201d she wrote in a Facebook post. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would we deny a child that protection? Why is child online safety being treated like a political game? And why has the debate over \u2018ban or no ban\u2019 turned into a competition, when the only ones losing while we argue are the kids?\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n
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