It’s funny how becoming a parent instantly makes you care more about stuff.   

As a child, I used to find it really embarrassing when my Dad would yell out at cars that were driving too fast. Now, I’m that guy. Every time a car hoons up our street, I want to scream at the driver. Sometimes I do. 

“There are kids here, you tosser!” 

My values in education have very much sharpened since becoming parent. My views on kids and smart phones have only intensified. And as Australia’s world-leading ban on social media for under-16s comes into effect, I’m fascinated to see what’s going to happen. 

I really, really dislike social media. I think what was initially sold to the world as a way for people to connect has morphed into something far more cynical. The likes of Facebook know they maximise profits by keeping people scrolling. And while once upon a time when you were on Facebook or Instagram, you’d mainly be seeing pictures of your friends, the various platforms have all worked out that nothing keeps people scrolling for longer than making them really angry. For all of the relatively harmless accounts, cat videos, and people making creative or funny content, the net effect has been poisonous. The platforms that were meant to connect us have done the opposite. They have isolated and divided us.   

I said last year on this show that social media platforms should be subject to better regulation (not to mention proper taxation!) and that at the very least, we should be considering Australia’s social media stance. But for those of us who nerd out on public policy, the actual design of Australia’s legislation has underscored why this is such a tricky issue to legislate. 

It comes down to the definition: What is social media? Even though they can try and work to a common set of standards, ultimately someone needs to make a judgement call. So while Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok have been banned, Discord doesn’t yet face the same restrictions. There are thousands of different platforms and sites where young people can still post and interact. YouTube has argued it isn’t social media at all. You can still access many videos without an account.  And Reddit is taking legal action arguing that its platform is totally different to many of the others. 

Teenagers are industrious. You try and play whack-a-mole and ban every new platform that pops up, but obviously some of them will find ways around the law, just as anyone who got their hands on alcohol or cigarettes before their 18th birthday will attest. But supporters of the law say that’s actually a good analogy. No one is suggesting the ban is going to stop every last kid from accessing social media. But it generally makes it more difficult.   

Truthfully, I don’t know how effective this law is going to be. I understand the impulse to want to protect children. I was a big supporter of banning phones in schools and I think unregulated social media has been disastrous. But this is super complex. I think the sensible thing for New Zealand to do is to take six months or a year. Learn from the Aussies, and then make a call. 

And even if we do act in the future, just as with booze or cigarettes, the state can only do so much. Easy to say this now, perhaps. Come back to me when my kids are a bit older! But the primary responsibility for keeping kids safe in the digital age cannot fall to governments or legislators... the responsibility is with us, parents. 

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