Social Media Ban

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that the Australian Government will enact laws to ban children under 16 years of age from social media and here I am sharing my thoughts on this. 

Image from The Chapel Hairdressers - Horsham Facebook page 

There are many benefits of social media. We can share photos and videos with our families and friends to keep them updated on our lives, instantly communicate with them, have a record of special memories, businesses can promote their products and services, connect with people professionally and do so much more. So many people are working on social media full time as influencers, working with brands and creating content online  and some have even married people they met online. 

Social media can also be used as a weapon.  

Preteens and teenagers go through puberty, stress about getting good grades at school, do their best to live up to their parents expectations, have many things they are worried about and just want to have fun with their friends and enjoy life. It's a crucial time for them and they are impressionable. They see celebrities and other people on Facebook and Instagram posting photos of expensive outfits, holidays and glamorous lives and may think that is what is needed to be liked. There are harmful depictions of body image and misogynist content which affect both girls and boys. Everyone always posts themselves looking their best and their moments of happiness and success and rarely show the sad times. Those images are not always an accurate representation of the person and their life. The woman looking stunning in a glamorous dress with her hair and make-up perfectly done does not always look like that and could be suffering from an illness. The man who posts a loving family portrait could be going through a divorce. We all should know not to believe everything we see and read on social media. 

Bullying happens everywhere, in schools, workplaces and online and it feels like nothing is being done to stop it. Schools say they have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying, harassment and discrimination, but do they really? It seems to me that, if they do, they are not enforcing it and allowing students to get away with bad and hurtful behavior. Principals and teachers have a duty of care to students to set rules and protect them from harm, but sometimes they don't do enough to show that they truly care. A child is being severely bullied in the schoolyard, physically, verbally or both, and when they go home and log on to the computer, it continues. They can't get away from the bullies, even in their place of safety. Imagine how this child must be feeling? Going through that everyday takes its toll and there is only so much a person can take. Bullying profoundly impacts developing minds and teens rarely report bullying, allowing it to fester until it becomes unbearable. 

Look at what happened to twelve-year-old Charlotte O'Brien and fifteen-year-old Olivia Evans. 

Charlotte sadly died by suicide in September after relentless bullying on social media. Olivia battled with Anorexia which was caused by bullying at school and social media before taking her own life in April last year. If you haven't heard their stories, watch Sunday's episode of 60 Minutes on Channel Nine in which Charlotte's parents, Matt and Kelly, and Olivia's father, Robb, talk about their daughters and what they are doing to save others from suffering the way their daughters did. They were beautiful little girls who had their whole lives ahead of them and now, because of horrible people on social media, they are gone. I watched it and honestly, I teared up watching Kelly holding a teddy bear containing Charlotte's ashes and Robb carrying an urn containing Olivia's Ashes. You can't watch them and not feel something. No parent should ever have to have a funeral and say goodbye to their child. You only need to take one look at those grieving parents to know that banning kids from social media is necessary.  

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, suicide is the leading cause of death among young people aged 15-24 years. Half of all young people have experienced cyberbullying. How many more young people have to die before something is done and the bullies are punished?

We do everything on our phones and we would be lost without them. With phones and social media, we have the world at our fingertips and we can sit behind our screens and type whatever we want. Have you heard of keyboard warriors?  A person who makes abusive, aggressive and rude posts on the internet while concealing their true identity. These days, every child has a phone, a computer and tablet. A lot of parents give their children phones for safety. If a parent is running late to pick them up from somewhere, or if a child is stuck or running late, they can call or text them. Mobile phones come with parental control settings and apps which can be used to control how long a child spends online and what content they can access. Even with these controls, parents don't always know what their children are doing online.

There is a dark side of the internet everyone should be aware of. From a very early age, we learn about stranger danger. Just like children are taught not to accept lollies or candy from strangers, they should be taught not to accept messages requests from strangers online. Some people accept and respond to every message or comment they receive but should be careful. The person sending the message may be genuine and have good intentions but there are a lot of scammers out there, Sadly, there are very bad people who deliberately cause harm and pain to others and will say and do anything to get what they want. A person may be nice in the beginning but suddenly turn mean or dangerous. Children and even adults could be too trusting and get caught up with these people. It is easy to become a victim of a scam and unfortunately, bullies and scammers don't always face the consequences. 

Will this social media ban work? Kids are smart. They could somehow work around restrictions and, whether they are on social media or not, bullying will still happen, but banning them could also keep them safe. We won't know until we try it and if even just one child is saved from suffering serious health issues and in the way Charlotte, Olivia and so many others have, isn't it worth it? I think so. Each person will have their own opinion and find any reason for this ban not to go ahead. The under 16s may complain about it but it is the right thing to do. I would actually fight for everyone under the age of 18 to be banned and only adults to be allowed on it. I fully support banning under 16s from social media. 

Here are some things to keep in mind. 

It is a sad fact that bullies, scammers and dangerous people exist and walk among us. The world can be cruel. People who commit crimes and do bad things somehow get away with it while good people who work hard everyday go through hard times. We all have to do what we can to protect ourselves and our children from suffering at the hands of those dangerous people. 

People who work as entertainers, influencers and content creators rely on social media and followers to view their content and use their products and services but other than that, the amount of followers someone has really shouldn't matter. Just because someone has millions of followers, doesn't mean they are better or more loved than someone with less. There are plenty of very successful people who have only ten followers or who are not on social media at all. The amount of followers you have does not represent who you truly are.

It is okay to remove people from your followers list on Facebook, Instagram and other platforms, even if they are your friend or family member. If they are causing you stress or hurting you in anyway, or you simply don't feel like having them there, just delete them. It is completely up to you who you add and share your content with. Facebook and Instagram have options to share posts with only a select group of people and choose who can send you messages. Facebook has an option to lock your profile so people who are not added as a friend can't see anything. I highly suggest changing your settings and keeping your pages as private as possible. 

If you see someone being bullied, please help them. Even if you can't step in and defend them against the bullies, offer to listen to them, be a shoulder to lean on and just be there for them. Knowing you are there for them is a huge help. 

Read, research and learn about scammers. They are everywhere, on social media and dating sites. Familiarize yourself with the signs and how they operate so you know what to look for when you are taking to someone online. 

Words can really hurt a person. We never really know what someone is going through so be mindful and think about how your words and actions affect others. 

We can all do something to help make social media safe. 

It is not healthy to look at screens all day and everyday. We may read something on social media which is distressing and impacts us deeply. Please take time away from screens and regular breaks from social media. Switch off and go do something else. Enjoy the outdoors, play with your pet, talk to your family and friends in person, read a book, cook, do craft. We don't have to be on our phones and computers all the time.