Jack Tame: Should we try banning social media for kids?

I’m a slave to social media and it drives me nuts.  

I feel compelled to have Twitter and Facebook for work. Instagram for socialising. I wisely never touch TikTok because from all accounts, that’s the most addictive platform of the lot. But if I have to battle to stop myself from reflexively picking up my phone and checking the ‘gram, I can’t imagine how hard it is for the generations who’ve never known a world without smart phones. 

Australia looks set to forge ahead with a ban on social media for young people. The South Australian government will ban it for kids under 14 and put the onus on the platforms to use age verification tools in making sure younger kids aren’t setting up accounts. 14 and 15 years olds will need explicit parental permission to access the likes of Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and X.  

But is that excessive? Is social media really comparable to booze or tobacco? And if it’s causing harm, is it really the state’s job to step in?  

I’m a huge fan of the work of U.S Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of ‘The Coddling of the American Mind.’ He says that overprotection from parents and schools has caused young people to be less resilient than in the past. I think there’s a lot in that. But I also agree with him that a lot of social and psychological damage in young people stems directly from social media. No phones until high school and keep them off social media until they’re at least 16, he says. Don’t you think it’s crazy that social media executives openly admit they refuse to let their own kids use their platforms, while claiming it’s all good for everyone else’s?  

I supported the phone ban in schools. I think it’s common sense. And in a way, this is the same: it’s a collective action problem. At the moment, parents know that if they let their kid on social media at a young age, even at 13, which is the stated age limit for many of the platforms, it’s potentially doing them harm. But if they deny their kid any social platforms, parents often feel the child runs the risk of being socially ostracised.  

Easy to say this now, given our boy’s only seven, but I’d like to think if in the future it’s a binary choice between letting him access social media when he’s really young, or supporting him if he gets stick because some of his classmates are online and he’s not... well, I’d take the latter option. I guess I’m a bit old school and strict.  

But regulation would mean a collective standard. The same rules across the board. And if we agree that an unregulated system isn’t doing our kids much good, perhaps it’s time to consider something different. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks AB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
You know what, I'm a slave to social media and
it drives me nuts. Just I feel compelled to have
Twitter or x and I feel compelled to have Facebook
as well, mainly for work. I have Instagram for socializing,
and I wisely never touch TikTok because from all accounts,
that's the most addictive platform of the lot. But what

(00:34):
I have three active social media platforms, and I feel
like I have to battle to stop myself from reflexively
picking up my phone and checking the gram. So I
can only imagine how hard it is for the generations
who have never known a world without smartphones to try
and get off social media. It's addictive, right. Australia now

(00:57):
looks set to forward ahead with a ban on social
media for young people. The South Australian government is going
to ban it for kids under the age of fourteen
and put the onus on the platforms to use age
verification tools in making sure that younger kids aren't setting
up accounts. Fourteen and fifteen year olds will need to
get explicit parental permission to access the likes of Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram,

(01:20):
and x But is that excessive? Is it too much?
Is social media really comparable to booze or tobacco? And
if it's causing harm, is it really the state's job
to step in? Is it government's job. I'm a huge
fan of the work of the US social psychologist Jonathan Hyte.

(01:43):
He's the author of The Coddling of the American Mind.
He says that over protection from parents and schools has
caused young people to be less resilient than in the past. Basically,
we have been coddling our young people too much. We've
been saying yes too much, and that as a result,
we have a generation of young people who are less

(02:03):
resilient personally. I think there's a lot in that I do,
but I also agree with him the lot of social
and psychological damage in young people stems directly from social media.
No phones until high school and keep kids off social
media until at least this until at least the age

(02:24):
of sixteen, Jonathan Hite says, don't you think it's crazy
that social media executives openly admit they refuse to let
their own kids use the platforms while claiming it's all
good for everyone else's. I personally supported the phone ban
in schools. I just think it's common sense. And in
a way this is the same because it's a collective

(02:47):
action problem. Right. So at the moment, parents know that
if they let their kid on social media at a
young age, even at thirteen, which is the stated age
limit for many of the platforms, it is potentially doing
them harm or contributing to harm in their social groups.
But if they deny their kid any social media platforms,

(03:08):
parents often feel that the child runs the risk of
being socially ostracized. And look, it's easy to say this
now given our boys only seven, but I would like
to think that if in the future it's a binary
choice between letting him access social media when he's really
young or supporting him if he gets stick because lots

(03:31):
of his classmates are online and he's not allowed to be, well,
I would still take the latter option. Maybe I'm just
maybe I'm a bit of old school. I'm a bit strict, right,
I would still say, sorry, it doesn't matter if all
your mates are on there, you're not getting social media.
But the thing about regulation is that if the government
stepped in, it would mean there is a collective standard,

(03:51):
the same rules for everyone, right across the board. And
if we can agree that an unregulated system for social
media is doing our kids harm, well, perhaps it is
time to consider something different.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
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