May 14, 2024 • 5 mins
South Australia is currently pushing the idea in their state.
Clinicial psychologist, at Canberra University, Dr Vivienne Lewis reveals whether it’s a good idea.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Your podcast Camera Raps.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
We did here earlier this afternoon, and it's been a
lot of talk around the nation, specifically South Australia. Here
today the concept of a social media band for kids
fourteen years or younger, and none of us really know
how to manage this wild west that is social media
(00:23):
and more broadly the Internet with kids.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
For crying out laud we never had to deal with
that growing up, So how really not?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah exactly, and so I figured, and we've discussed in
the past that just being with your kid and learning
to manage the environment is the smartest approach. However, I'm
not a clinical psychologist. Luckily we have one on the line,
doctor Vivian Lewis. Thank you for your time this afternoon.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Good after name.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I talk about these things, but honestly you're the expert.
Does your research suggest there is an age where an
exposure to social media is harmful full stop?
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Well, it's all about what children are actually being exposed
to and how much parental control is. So a lot
of the research shows that, you know, that sort of
endless scrolling or where they might be access to sites
or what have you that perhaps are not appropriate for children,
(01:20):
as well as just things like cyber bullying and just
the amount of time that kids can actually spend on
their devices and looking at sort of social media. You know,
for some kids that can really cause them a lot
of anxiety, can certainly cause body image issues and eating
disorders for those who might be being hassled for their
appearance and those sorts of things. So we know that
(01:42):
for some kids it really does affect their mental health
quite negatively lick, especially if they're spending hours and hours
looking at social media.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
So South Australia are looking at blocking kids under the
age of fourteen from accessing social media. Is fourteen the
magic number or is it still something that we need
to be monitoring really really heavily at that age.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
Well, I think it's about looking at people's access to
social media generally, and the same things can happen for adults.
So then we know when there's a lot of attention
paid to doing something that might not be in somebody's
best interest, or you're not quite sure what they're actually
looking at or how they're engaging in it. That's where
(02:28):
it's challenging. And we certainly know that, you know, our
brains are not fully developed, or we're about twenty five
years old. You're talking about very young developing brains and
looking at you know, the what are the influencers on
that and their development? And as we know you kids
need to be doing all sorts of things, going outside, playing,
(02:49):
interacting with people, doing things that are face to face,
and so a lot of the social media things is
not as often in their bedrooms as often when nobody's around,
and so in that way it can be quite detrimental.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
So I'm hearing that developmentally.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Obviously, kids certainly to a certain point, aren't armed with
an ability to best manage that environment. But I see
adults who seem to actively regress when they get on
social media, and I don't suppose there's anything we can
do about that as far as them being in the
custody of a.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Parent or a custodium.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
So do you support the idea of a ban on
kids fourteen years and younger is proposed by USA.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Well, I think you have to. You have to put
up them sort of pros and cons because for some kids,
if you think of particularly kids who might be in
rural areas or kids who don't communicate well verbally, so
then sometimes some of those social media devices can actually
be really helpful. So it's not as simple as social
media is completely bad in every single respect. Like we
(03:57):
do know for some kids they actually benefit quite a
lot from the other communicate with their with their friends
and using that sort of thing, and they do need
it to do some of their study, etc. So I
think it's more about, you know, are we having conversations
with children and young people around what they're viewing and
how they're viewing and what they understand about it. That's
(04:18):
probably more important.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
So I'm hearing doctor Vivian fourteen, isn't you know? The
magic age is described by GABBYA a second ago, and
I speak about it from time to time. The responsibilities
as a parent to be present and involved in our
kids social media experience and that journey of discovery. But
there are so many variables, as far as you might
have two parents both working split shifts, you might be
(04:45):
as a kid living in two different homes. There's a
stack of those variables. Do you have advice for parents
in managing their kids social media discovery and journey?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
I think what's really important is to be aware of
what your child is accessing, So what are they looking at?
Who are they communicating with because when you know that information,
then you have the opportunity to correct and to protect them.
So that's the main thing, is that parents need to
be having conversations with their children around what they're doing,
(05:17):
whether it's on their phones or devices.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I'm relieved that it appears we may have been on
the right track, Gabby. I knew we went to an
expert for a reason, but it sounds like the Book
of Common Sense is probably the best place to play
from Doctor Vivian Lewis, thank you so much for your
expertise today.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
We will absolutely chat again my pleasure your podcast camera
wraps
Your podcast Camera Raps.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
We did here earlier this afternoon, and it's been a
lot of talk around the nation, specifically South Australia. Here
today the concept of a social media band for kids
fourteen years or younger, and none of us really know
how to manage this wild west that is social media
(00:23):
and more broadly the Internet with kids.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
For crying out laud we never had to deal with
that growing up, So how really not?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah exactly, and so I figured, and we've discussed in
the past that just being with your kid and learning
to manage the environment is the smartest approach. However, I'm
not a clinical psychologist. Luckily we have one on the line,
doctor Vivian Lewis. Thank you for your time this afternoon.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Good after name.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I talk about these things, but honestly you're the expert.
Does your research suggest there is an age where an
exposure to social media is harmful full stop?
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Well, it's all about what children are actually being exposed
to and how much parental control is. So a lot
of the research shows that, you know, that sort of
endless scrolling or where they might be access to sites
or what have you that perhaps are not appropriate for children,
(01:20):
as well as just things like cyber bullying and just
the amount of time that kids can actually spend on
their devices and looking at sort of social media. You know,
for some kids that can really cause them a lot
of anxiety, can certainly cause body image issues and eating
disorders for those who might be being hassled for their
appearance and those sorts of things. So we know that
(01:42):
for some kids it really does affect their mental health
quite negatively lick, especially if they're spending hours and hours
looking at social media.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
So South Australia are looking at blocking kids under the
age of fourteen from accessing social media. Is fourteen the
magic number or is it still something that we need
to be monitoring really really heavily at that age.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
Well, I think it's about looking at people's access to
social media generally, and the same things can happen for adults.
So then we know when there's a lot of attention
paid to doing something that might not be in somebody's
best interest, or you're not quite sure what they're actually
looking at or how they're engaging in it. That's where
(02:28):
it's challenging. And we certainly know that, you know, our
brains are not fully developed, or we're about twenty five
years old. You're talking about very young developing brains and
looking at you know, the what are the influencers on
that and their development? And as we know you kids
need to be doing all sorts of things, going outside, playing,
(02:49):
interacting with people, doing things that are face to face,
and so a lot of the social media things is
not as often in their bedrooms as often when nobody's around,
and so in that way it can be quite detrimental.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
So I'm hearing that developmentally.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Obviously, kids certainly to a certain point, aren't armed with
an ability to best manage that environment. But I see
adults who seem to actively regress when they get on
social media, and I don't suppose there's anything we can
do about that as far as them being in the
custody of a.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Parent or a custodium.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
So do you support the idea of a ban on
kids fourteen years and younger is proposed by USA.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Well, I think you have to. You have to put
up them sort of pros and cons because for some kids,
if you think of particularly kids who might be in
rural areas or kids who don't communicate well verbally, so
then sometimes some of those social media devices can actually
be really helpful. So it's not as simple as social
media is completely bad in every single respect. Like we
(03:57):
do know for some kids they actually benefit quite a
lot from the other communicate with their with their friends
and using that sort of thing, and they do need
it to do some of their study, etc. So I
think it's more about, you know, are we having conversations
with children and young people around what they're viewing and
how they're viewing and what they understand about it. That's
(04:18):
probably more important.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
So I'm hearing doctor Vivian fourteen, isn't you know? The
magic age is described by GABBYA a second ago, and
I speak about it from time to time. The responsibilities
as a parent to be present and involved in our
kids social media experience and that journey of discovery. But
there are so many variables, as far as you might
have two parents both working split shifts, you might be
(04:45):
as a kid living in two different homes. There's a
stack of those variables. Do you have advice for parents
in managing their kids social media discovery and journey?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
I think what's really important is to be aware of
what your child is accessing, So what are they looking at?
Who are they communicating with because when you know that information,
then you have the opportunity to correct and to protect them.
So that's the main thing, is that parents need to
be having conversations with their children around what they're doing,
(05:17):
whether it's on their phones or devices.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I'm relieved that it appears we may have been on
the right track, Gabby. I knew we went to an
expert for a reason, but it sounds like the Book
of Common Sense is probably the best place to play
from Doctor Vivian Lewis, thank you so much for your
expertise today.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
We will absolutely chat again my pleasure your podcast camera
wraps
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