Comment on 'Nothing' done to address gaps created by teen social media ban, says children's commissioner
vas@lemmy.ml 3 days ago
I don’t currently live in Australia so I may be ill informed, but the arguments sound made-up to me.
Hollonds said she’s worried the ban will adversely affect children who already struggle to find connection and belonging at school, citing LGBTQIA+ children, those with mental health problems, neurodiverse children, children with disabilities and complex needs, and children who live in regional and rural areas.
Doesn’t that sound exactly like the “can somebody please think about the children” argument? I mean, how will social media help those with mental health problems? There’s a ton of studies that social media only makes it worse, and by far.
Or in other words, don’t have hopes that some magical “social media” is gonna help the children. Do it, yourself. Support minorities around you. Be more welcoming of other genders/preferences. Talk to other people. That kind of stuff…
Tau@aussie.zone 3 days ago
It is that, but the ban in question is being justified by that same poor argument so it might as well be fired right back again.
vas@lemmy.ml 3 days ago
Yeah, I didn’t think about it, but your comment makes sense to me. I don’t know what’s best really.
Like in a discussion here on Lemmy that was just a little while ago, I think phone usage during school hours would be a far healthier and effective alternative. I’ve seen how it works in practice in 2 different countries, one with mobile phones allowed and one disallowed. And the complete ban on phone usage during school hours really goes easy and works well (as I see implemented in Dutch schools at least - you just hand over your device in the morning until end of school).
Tau@aussie.zone 3 days ago
Over the last few years I think all our states have now banned phones from being visible in school, so there’s efforts towards reducing usage at least within school. That’s a relatively recent move though and does only cut down on usage during part of the day so I don’t know if there’s been a noticeable effect on the kids.
melbaboutown@aussie.zone 2 days ago
You can also go back to having a family computer in a common room, install parental controls, give kids a dumb phone if they absolutely need one, and teach them to use phone boxes in an emergency.
But this is too good a chance to suck up more sensitive data and engage in more surveillance.
vas@lemmy.ml 2 days ago
I think both 0 screen time and infinite screen time are bad extremes for kids. Infinite probably doesn’t need explaining, zero is also not very effective because you’re likely gonna alienate the kid and they’ll be playing at friend’s houses anyway.
Personally I think the best approach is to try be a guide for your kid, not a policement. Soon enough they’ll be on their own anyway, and the reasons will stick better than the rules.