09/12/2025
Wellā¦ today marks the beginning of the social media ban for kids under 16 in Australia. How are we feeling about it?
I grew up in an era where Facebook and MSN were the height of connection. We had one laptop, one internet stick, and you basically had to book your turn. I was 16 when I got my first iPhone, and even then Instagram was mostly food pics, selfies, and badly filtered sunsets. Life online feltā¦ simpler.
Thatās obviously not the world todayās teenagers live in.
I canāt speak for a 15-year-old who suddenly loses access to their digital social life. I canāt speak for the parents who are navigating the weight of online pressures, bullying, comparison, and everything in between.
But I can speak from the perspective of someone who lives and breathes social media every day.
Iām genuinely curious to see what impact this has on teenagersā mental health. Iām curious whether the government will take further steps around bullying and online safety. Because while this ban might be a step in the right direction, itās still an experiment, one that might prevent harm but could also create new risks.
Letās be real: the legal drinking age is 18, and plenty of us underage drank. Rules donāt automatically equal behaviour change.
This isnāt a ādust off our hands, problem solvedā moment. Itās a chance to rethink how we support young people in a digital world. And yes, maybe this ban is one part of the solutionā¦ but itās definitely not the whole thing.
