Widespread support for social media ban
Independent schools say they support the government's plans to ban social media for people under the age of 16.
'We understand what they're trying to do and we're very supportive of it,' says Charlotte Brook, deputy principal of the A.B. Patterson College on the Gold Coast in Queensland.
She says it's up to the social media platforms to put preventative measures in place to stop young people using them.
In November last year, the Albanese government passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024, which aims to implement a social media ban for children under 16.
TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, X and YouTube will have to take 'reasonable steps' to ensure that young users are not on their platforms.
The ban isn't expected to come into effect until December this year, and in the meantime the government will need to determine how the ban will work in practice, with many experts questioning how it will be enforced given how adept teenagers are at using technology.
'We know social media is doing social harm,' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said when he announced the ban. 'This is a landmark reform. We know some kids will find workarounds, but we're sending a message to social media companies to clean up their act.'
Dr Toni Meath, principal of Melbourne Girls Grammar School, supports the ban because she says it gives parents the opportunity to tell their children that the government has banned social media for them and so they can't have it.
'It's complex and difficult being a parent today, so any support you can get as a parent from someone saying 'no, social media is not appropriate for people under the age of 16', then parents can push back as well,' she said.
'Adolescents are unfinished animals, their brains haven't finished developing, so protecting them for as long as we can is a duty of care we should all have as adults,' she says.
Kellie Lyneham, head of senior school at Carey Baptist Grammar in Melbourne, says lifting the minimum age for accessing social media could be very helpful.
But she adds that adults need to demonstrate collective efficacy in stopping their children using social media.
'We need to be seeing the adults aligned and working together to kind of hold that line. And as you well know, teenagers are designed to push boundaries. That's exactly what they're meant to be doing, but they also really find a great deal of safety when the boundaries are clear and held,' she says.
If adults don't step up and work together to help make sure that everybody is having the same experience, then the ban will have only a limited impact, Ms Lyneham says.
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