December 9, 2025 • 17 mins
Today’s the day. Australia’s new Social Media Minimum Age Legislation kicks in—and families everywhere are feeling everything from relief to panic. In this special episode, Justin is interviewed by “Intrepid Reporter Kylie” in a reenactment of a newsroom conversation that never got to air.
You’ll hear what this ban actually means, how parents and teens are reacting, why the timing matters, and what families can do to keep kids connected, active, and thriving—without the algorithm pulling them in.
Short, practical, reassuring. A must-listen for every parent navigating summer holidays and a new digital reality.
KEY POINTS
- Why parent reactions have been overwhelmingly positive
- How teens really feel—and why some are secretly relieved
- What the legislation does and doesn’t block
- The truth about VPNs, fake IDs, and workarounds
- Why school holiday timing may actually be perfect
- How this ban affects connection, loneliness, and real-life friendships
- What platforms are age-restricted vs. still accessible
- Why messaging apps aren’t the same as social media
- How Justin & Kylie navigated the changes with their own teen
- The essential role parents still play (the ban doesn’t replace you!)
QUOTE OF THE EPISODE
“I’m not anti-screen. I’m pro living a full, balanced, whole, healthy life.”
RESOURCES MENTIONED
- eSafety Social Media Hub – full details on the new minimum age legislation
- Platform list of age-restricted vs. permitted services
- happyfamilies.com.au
ACTION STEPS FOR PARENTS
- Talk early and often about the changes rather than enforcing them cold.
- Shift the focus to real life: encourage outdoor time, friends over, hands-on activities.
- Check your child’s accounts together and deactivate any that are now age-restricted.
- Discuss messaging alternatives (not algorithm-driven).
- Stay engaged—the ban reduces risk but doesn’t remove screen challenges.
- Reassure your child that boredom is normal and survivable—and often the gateway to creativity.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello, Welcome to the Happy Families Podcast. December tenth, twenty
twenty five. Today's today that the social media minimum age
legislation kicks off. It's rolling out, it's happening as of
Well now, I'm sure there's going to be some teething errors.
I'm sure that there's going to be some challenges and parents, no,
you do not get to abrogate your responsibility to keep
your kids living a healthy life and away from screens
(00:28):
as much as you can. But today on the podcast,
we're going to do something different. Kylie's going to role
play missus. Happy Families is not going to be my
wife and co host. Actually you are, you always are.
But Kylie, today you're going to play the role of reporter,
intrepid reporter because.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Because the real reporter didn't want to talk to your
second time round.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Well, it's not that the real reporter didn't want to
talk to me, it's that they weren't given permission. So
to cut along story really short, I was interviewed by
a reporter from a news organization that we shall not
name right now because that could get them in trouble.
And the interview questions were so good, like so good
and I loved the interview so much, and I said, well,
you know that was great. I wonder if I wonder
if you could interview me again and I could record
(01:11):
it for the podcast. And they went away and asked
the boss and the boss said no. So therefore, because
we've got the questions, Kylie's going to pretend to be
that reporter and we're going to do a reenactment. Except Kylie,
knowing you, you're gonna have a bit to say. You're
not just going to ask questions, so maybe you will.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I don't know, Well, what's my stage name.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I'm not allowed to say. We're just going to say
Kylie the intrepid reporter for her. So we're going to
go through this wonderful interview. I'm sure I've forgotten most
of my answers, but it was a great interview, and
I'll come off with some are the ones right after this. Hello,
and welcome to the Happy Family podcast Real Parenting Solutions.
(01:48):
Every single day on Australia's most downloaded parenting podcast, we
are Justin and Kylie Coulson. But today Kylie is playing
the role of the intrepid reporter who has a bunch
of questions for me about the Social Media Minner major
legislation which kicks off today right around the country. Let's
not waste any time, intrepid reporter Kylie, what is the
first question? Let's make this interview happen.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, thank you for joining me today, Doctor Justin. Today's
a really big date for parents out there as they
deal with some pretty big emotions, I would say, with
the rollout of the social media band for under sixteen.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
So we're technically calling it the social Media minim major
legislation limits.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
But that's howful, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
So I've got some really important questions for you, and
I know that parents are eaching to find out what
you've got to say about them.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Can't wait?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
How are parents feeling about the upcoming social media band?
Do you think?
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Well, you've got kids, can I ask? How do you
feel about it?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Oh? I'm so excited?
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Why because and by the way, I did this to
the reporter, like I love turning questions back on reporters.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
But anyway, go ahead, because at this point there's only
one child in our house that it impacts. But it
just allows her to reconnect in positive ways, even if
it's only for a short time. But she's actually taken
it on.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Board really well, yeah, at this point she has very much.
So my position is pretty much as follows. Parents that
I've been speaking to around the country consistently have been saying,
oh my goodness, thank goodness, we are so grateful we
need this social media ban. There are obviously some who
think that it's silly. There are some who don't really
care and think that it's a bit meh, a bit
(03:28):
nah whatever, But generally speaking, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
Parents are struggling with kids and their screens, particularly the
social media side of things, And just to be really
clear about it, kids can still access content that's on
social media if it's publicly available, Like they can jump
onto an internet browser and look up at TikTok about
whatever thing they're interested in, and they will be able
(03:48):
to find it if it's publicly available. But what they
can't do is they can't have a social media account,
and they can't be followed by an algorithm and have
ongoing suggested content directed and targeted at them because of
who they are, because of what they've clicked on, what
they've liked, what they've shared, what they've commented on.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
And I would assume because they don't have their own profile.
In spite of the fact that they can access content
that's publicly available, they can't comment.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
I'm not sure about commenting or not. We'll have to
see if our daughter can do that later today. But
this is the critical thing where we're trusting, and this
is a hard thing to do with social media companies.
A big tech is just not trustworthy. But we're trusting
that there's not something going on in the background where
kids are still being monitored, certainly without account, without an account.
This should be a good thing, and parents generally are
feeling really really positive about this social media minimum age legislation.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
I am curious how you think the kids are feeling
about this.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
I've spoken with a number of adolescents over the last
couple of months about it. Some of them think that
it's ridiculous. There's a whole lot that are arguing, oh,
we're just going to get a VPN. For those who
are not familiar VPNs virtual private network that's a way
of hiding where your router is and being able to
get access to content from overseas, or pretend that you're
in a that you're not from my conversations with Julie
Inman Grant, Australia's c E Safety Commissioner. Technology is going
(05:07):
to be implemented sufficient to stop VPNs and fake profiles
and fake IDs and other things working. So it's going
to take a very, very very motivated teenager to get
around the technology at this point. While there are some
kids that are really upset about it, and there are
some who are legitimately disadvantage, like there are some kids
who are running businesses on social media and this is
(05:29):
going to be hard for them, But generally speaking, most
kids are fine with it, and some are actually excited,
Like there are some kids that I've spoken to are like, yeah,
this is a problem and I need the help and
this is going to stop me from being online.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Do you think it's tricky timing for families given that
school has just finished and we're heading into the holidays.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, So when the reporter asked me this question, sorry
you are the reporter. Of course in this role.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Play, you're not very good at roll. I'm so sorry. Yeah,
I was kind.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Of like when I said, the boss of this, now,
when is the right time?
Speaker 1 (06:02):
My response was, is when is the right time for this?
Like you could argue that it's cerebral timing because school
Holidays is just starting. But you could also if you
did it during the school year, like the start of
term one, or I don't know, the start of term
or midterm. At no point is this going to be
easy or lacking in complexity. I actually think at a
(06:26):
personal level that this is great timing. Kids are not
at school, they're not reliant on their devices. I wouldn't
think the same way that they would be otherwise. They've
now got a whole lot of free time where we
can say to them things like go outside and play,
or no, you don't need that screen, and no, there's
nothing for you to look at anyway. This is the
(06:47):
time where kids get to be creative, they get to
get outside, they get to use their bodies. And I
think school Holidays is the perfect time to roll it
out so that kids can get used to it before
school comes back.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
I like it. I like it a lot.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Am I allowed to have an opinion?
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Well, you can say whatever you like. You're running this show. Apparently,
I think.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It's great too.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
I think it's great because, like you've already acknowledged that,
it gives there's time for kids to kind of navigate
life in a new space without added complication. But I
also think they've got time on their side.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
So they can get their friends around now and just
get face to face.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
They've got time on their side, And I feel like
for those kids who are motivated, I think it's actually
going to be hugely successful. For the kids that aren't motivated,
it could be a little bit more challenging, But I
think that if parents engage, there's actually a really awesome opportunity.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah, so parent engagement's going to be huge around this,
and for me, that's the key thing. It's also worth highlighting.
Parents don't get to abbrogate the responsibility here and say, oh, well,
now that the social media a major legislation is in,
I don't need to talk to my kids about screens.
We've still got a lot going on here that really
does matter, and I don't think that we can even
for a moment, pretend that that this is just going
(08:04):
to go away, screens will cease to be an issue.
This is a first step and it's important, but there's
a lot more to do Before you ask the next question.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
We need to take a quick break.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
But after the break, the Big four questions about how
this minimum age social media legislation affects families.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
We're back.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
This is the Happy Family's podcast. My name's doctor Justin Coulson,
and today I'm being interviewed in the absence of a
reporter who was not allowed to be on the podcast
to ask these questions. I'm being interviewed by missus Happy Families,
who wants to know what the reporter wanted to know.
What's the next question.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Well, you've already acknowledged that you have only one child
who will be navigating the social media ban. I'm interested
to know how you're navigating it with her.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
So we've had quite a number of conversations. She told
us that all of her friends were going to get VPNs.
They were going to be sneaky. They thought it was stupid,
They hate it, And we asked her how she felt,
and slowly but surely, over the last little while, she's
been reducing her.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Access to platforms.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
She deleted one platform, then a few weeks later she
deleted the next platform. She's been using them a little
bit less, and we've just been talking to her about
why this matters. And I don't think that it's been
nearly enough I'm not satisfied at all with the with
the way that she's done it. I would have loved
to have seen her do more. But at the end
of the day, it's going to happen. It's futile for
(09:31):
her to fight against it. And as of today, she
doesn't have access to social media. So yeah, it's kind
of it's futile and now it's happening.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
What do we do if, like we mentioned earlier, we've
got teenagers who are less motivated, how do we ensure
that they don't feel isolated.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
There's this argument that there are disadvantaged kids or minority
kids who get support and help because they're allowed to
have access to social media. There are two things that
I want to say about that. First of all, if
you look closely at the research, that's not necessarily the case.
It might be in unique circumstances, but generally, if for
kids having a hard time offline because of their minority
status or because of their group status, for whatever reason,
(10:14):
when they go online, they tend to Yes, they might
find some people who can be supportive, but they tend
to get a pretty hard time on.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Life as well.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
To say, yeah, it kind of aligns pretty well with
real life.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Yeah, being online is not a safer place generally speaking.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
It's worse.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Even for people who have challenging backgrounds and who are
looking for support online, it's very, very hard to get
that support. Once they get the community, it can be helpful,
but it's also reinforcing and doesn't necessarily help them to
learn to navigate real life effectively, which has lots of downsides.
Second thing to highlight is just this whole social media argument.
I mean, I'm in a couple of group chats, and
(10:52):
because I've gotten rid of social media myself, I've asked
if we can move those group chats from Facebook Messenger
to WhatsApp, and somebody said, well, it's a difference. And
the difference for me is when I'm on WhatsApp, it's
just social conversation. It's literally us talking in our group chat,
Whereas when you're on Facebook and you check your Messenger,
(11:12):
the algorithm also reaches out to you and pulls you
back into the main side of Facebook, and then you
get caught up in the algorithm. It's got its tentacles
into you. And this is the central point that I
want to make in terms of isolation being on social media.
Is isolating Facebook. Recently, we're involved in an anti trust
trial in the United States. For those who are not
familiar with anti trust, it's basically about breaking up monopolies.
(11:35):
And in the anti trust trial, Facebook made the argument
that between eighty and ninety percent of interaction on their
platform now is not social. Rather, it's people who don't
know each other, watching short form video slash TV content
and commenting, liking, and sharing. So we're not really following
our friends, we're not really engaging with our friends, and
(11:57):
social media has literally become not social media but short
form television or short form video media. And the algorithm
is so addictive that it's causing harm to our kids
and it's taken them away from real life. So the
services this is from the eesafety dot gov dot AU website.
The services that e safety considers will be age restricted
(12:20):
include Facebook, Instagram, kick, Reddit, Snapchat, threads, TikTok, twitch x
formerly Twitter, and YouTube, but it doesn't include discord, getthub, Google, Classroom, Lego, play, Messenger, Pinterest, roadblocks,
Steam and steam Chat, WhatsApp, and YouTube kids. Now, these
(12:44):
may change as time goes on, but the thing that
I want to emphasize here is that the things that
have stayed Discord Messenger, roadblocks and WhatsApp the main ones
that I'm going to pick on right now, and even
Pinterests who have literally reached out and said what can
we do so that we can make sure that we
(13:04):
are safe for people to be on. These are mainly
about messaging. Now there's some horrendous stuff that still gets
message on these platforms. So I'm still concerned about these
platforms for our under sixteenes. I don't think they should
be on them, But at least there's no algorithms. At
least there's no addictive technology, and these ones don't foment
(13:24):
isolation the way the big ones do that have been
highlighted as being age restricted.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
So what are some activities that might act as a
good distraction over the school holidays?
Speaker 3 (13:35):
I mean, like anything.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
When I was a kid, literally my parents didn't see
me during the school holidays. From about the age of thirty, my.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Parents would say the same thing about their teenagers, except
in your case, you were outside, and in a lot
of cases our kids are actually just in their bedroom.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
They're in the bedroom, or they're laying on the living
and floor or the rumpstrom floor playing a video game
or something. When I reflect on my adolescent years, from
about the age of thirteen, I started surfing. Wh meant
that I had to ring my friends on the telephone
that was connected to the wall in the kitchen, and
they had to pick up the phone on the wall
in their kitchen, and we had to say, what bus
are you catching? And then we would they caught the
bus from a different bus stop to me, about fifteen
(14:12):
twenty minutes down the road, so hopefully they would catch
the bus, and they would often have to run because
we'd look at the timetable and go, oh my goodness, run,
And then I would go to the bus stop and
hopefully they'd be on the bus, and if they weren't,
I'd get off the bus and then I'd walk home
and I'd ring them. I'd say you missed the bus,
or I'd wait and hope that they were on the
next bus, and then we would go to the beach
and we would serve all day, and then we would
come home and get this. I would sit down on
(14:33):
a Saturday afternoon, I would watch four or five or
six hours of Wide World of Sports on Channel nine.
And that was fine. Why because I was outside for
half the day, and I was physically active, and I
was with my friends, and there was lots of social time,
lots of face to FaceTime, and I didn't really care
and Dad didn't really care that I was getting four
or five or six hours of TV on a Saturday
afternoon because I was living this really full and really
active life. I'm not an anti screen, I keep on
(14:55):
saying this. I'm not anti screen. I am pro living
a full, balanced, whole healthy life. And if this legislation
stops you kids from being on social media but they're
still playing Roadblock, they're still playing Fortnite, They're still on
their screens all day, every day, and they can be,
make no mistake, they still can be, then the legislation
has done nothing really.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
So what I'm.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Interested in when you ask the question about what shoul
the kids be doing, my answer is I don't care
so long as they're living a full life. If you
live in a home like most Australians do, your kids
are probably going to have a bicycle. There's probably going
to be a basketball hoop somewhere. There's probably going to
be a trampoline in the backyard, or a swing set
that's going to be a park down the road, or
a beach, or a mountain to climb, or a skate park,
(15:37):
or there'll be something somewhere. So I think the most
important words that we can say to our tween and
teens across the summer now of this legislation here is
go outside, but on board, I know, go outside, or
we can say, well, I mean, what would you like
me to do about your boedom? Because that's what my
parents used to say to me, what would you like
(15:57):
me to do about it? And I'd look at them
and that they were saying, it's not my problem, and
they actually couldn't do anything about my boredom.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
My boardom was my problem.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
My dad used to say, only boring people get bored,
and maybe that was marm I can't remember. So when
I think about your question, what might act as a
good distraction over the school holidays?
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Life?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Life would be a good distraction from screens over the holidays.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Well, doctor, justin thank you so much for your time today.
I had a few other questions, but you've already answered
them all, so I think we'll call it quits there.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Kylie, Intrepid Reporter extraordinaire. It's been a delight to talk
with you, and thank you so much for asking that
other reporter's question so that we could do this podcast
episode today.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
I really hope that it's helpful.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Honestly, this is a good thing, but there is still
work for us to do as parents. Because kids can
still use their screens as much as you let them.
They've still got access to a lot of content online
and a lot of things that can keep them occupied
there that's not going to be in their best interests.
If you would like more information about what's going on,
check out e safety dot au. There is a social
media hub there that's really easy to find and it's
(16:58):
got everything that you need to know the social media
minimum age obligation legislation, and I think you find it
really helpful.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Willing to that in the show notes.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
The Happy Families podcast is produced by Justin Roland from
Bridge Media. Mim Hammonds provides research, admin and all of
our other support and for more information about making your
family happy, please visit Happyfamilies dot com dot au.
Hello, Welcome to the Happy Families Podcast. December tenth, twenty
twenty five. Today's today that the social media minimum age
legislation kicks off. It's rolling out, it's happening as of
Well now, I'm sure there's going to be some teething errors.
I'm sure that there's going to be some challenges and parents, no,
you do not get to abrogate your responsibility to keep
your kids living a healthy life and away from screens
(00:28):
as much as you can. But today on the podcast,
we're going to do something different. Kylie's going to role
play missus. Happy Families is not going to be my
wife and co host. Actually you are, you always are.
But Kylie, today you're going to play the role of reporter,
intrepid reporter because.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Because the real reporter didn't want to talk to your
second time round.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Well, it's not that the real reporter didn't want to
talk to me, it's that they weren't given permission. So
to cut along story really short, I was interviewed by
a reporter from a news organization that we shall not
name right now because that could get them in trouble.
And the interview questions were so good, like so good
and I loved the interview so much, and I said, well,
you know that was great. I wonder if I wonder
if you could interview me again and I could record
(01:11):
it for the podcast. And they went away and asked
the boss and the boss said no. So therefore, because
we've got the questions, Kylie's going to pretend to be
that reporter and we're going to do a reenactment. Except Kylie,
knowing you, you're gonna have a bit to say. You're
not just going to ask questions, so maybe you will.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I don't know, Well, what's my stage name.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I'm not allowed to say. We're just going to say
Kylie the intrepid reporter for her. So we're going to
go through this wonderful interview. I'm sure I've forgotten most
of my answers, but it was a great interview, and
I'll come off with some are the ones right after this. Hello,
and welcome to the Happy Family podcast Real Parenting Solutions.
(01:48):
Every single day on Australia's most downloaded parenting podcast, we
are Justin and Kylie Coulson. But today Kylie is playing
the role of the intrepid reporter who has a bunch
of questions for me about the Social Media Minner major
legislation which kicks off today right around the country. Let's
not waste any time, intrepid reporter Kylie, what is the
first question? Let's make this interview happen.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, thank you for joining me today, Doctor Justin. Today's
a really big date for parents out there as they
deal with some pretty big emotions, I would say, with
the rollout of the social media band for under sixteen.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
So we're technically calling it the social Media minim major
legislation limits.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
But that's howful, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
So I've got some really important questions for you, and
I know that parents are eaching to find out what
you've got to say about them.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Can't wait?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
How are parents feeling about the upcoming social media band?
Do you think?
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Well, you've got kids, can I ask? How do you
feel about it?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Oh? I'm so excited?
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Why because and by the way, I did this to
the reporter, like I love turning questions back on reporters.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
But anyway, go ahead, because at this point there's only
one child in our house that it impacts. But it
just allows her to reconnect in positive ways, even if
it's only for a short time. But she's actually taken
it on.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Board really well, yeah, at this point she has very much.
So my position is pretty much as follows. Parents that
I've been speaking to around the country consistently have been saying,
oh my goodness, thank goodness, we are so grateful we
need this social media ban. There are obviously some who
think that it's silly. There are some who don't really
care and think that it's a bit meh, a bit
(03:28):
nah whatever, But generally speaking, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
Parents are struggling with kids and their screens, particularly the
social media side of things, And just to be really
clear about it, kids can still access content that's on
social media if it's publicly available, Like they can jump
onto an internet browser and look up at TikTok about
whatever thing they're interested in, and they will be able
(03:48):
to find it if it's publicly available. But what they
can't do is they can't have a social media account,
and they can't be followed by an algorithm and have
ongoing suggested content directed and targeted at them because of
who they are, because of what they've clicked on, what
they've liked, what they've shared, what they've commented on.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
And I would assume because they don't have their own profile.
In spite of the fact that they can access content
that's publicly available, they can't comment.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
I'm not sure about commenting or not. We'll have to
see if our daughter can do that later today. But
this is the critical thing where we're trusting, and this
is a hard thing to do with social media companies.
A big tech is just not trustworthy. But we're trusting
that there's not something going on in the background where
kids are still being monitored, certainly without account, without an account.
This should be a good thing, and parents generally are
feeling really really positive about this social media minimum age legislation.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
I am curious how you think the kids are feeling
about this.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
I've spoken with a number of adolescents over the last
couple of months about it. Some of them think that
it's ridiculous. There's a whole lot that are arguing, oh,
we're just going to get a VPN. For those who
are not familiar VPNs virtual private network that's a way
of hiding where your router is and being able to
get access to content from overseas, or pretend that you're
in a that you're not from my conversations with Julie
Inman Grant, Australia's c E Safety Commissioner. Technology is going
(05:07):
to be implemented sufficient to stop VPNs and fake profiles
and fake IDs and other things working. So it's going
to take a very, very very motivated teenager to get
around the technology at this point. While there are some
kids that are really upset about it, and there are
some who are legitimately disadvantage, like there are some kids
who are running businesses on social media and this is
(05:29):
going to be hard for them, But generally speaking, most
kids are fine with it, and some are actually excited,
Like there are some kids that I've spoken to are like, yeah,
this is a problem and I need the help and
this is going to stop me from being online.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Do you think it's tricky timing for families given that
school has just finished and we're heading into the holidays.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, So when the reporter asked me this question, sorry
you are the reporter. Of course in this role.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Play, you're not very good at roll. I'm so sorry. Yeah,
I was kind.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Of like when I said, the boss of this, now,
when is the right time?
Speaker 1 (06:02):
My response was, is when is the right time for this?
Like you could argue that it's cerebral timing because school
Holidays is just starting. But you could also if you
did it during the school year, like the start of
term one, or I don't know, the start of term
or midterm. At no point is this going to be
easy or lacking in complexity. I actually think at a
(06:26):
personal level that this is great timing. Kids are not
at school, they're not reliant on their devices. I wouldn't
think the same way that they would be otherwise. They've
now got a whole lot of free time where we
can say to them things like go outside and play,
or no, you don't need that screen, and no, there's
nothing for you to look at anyway. This is the
(06:47):
time where kids get to be creative, they get to
get outside, they get to use their bodies. And I
think school Holidays is the perfect time to roll it
out so that kids can get used to it before
school comes back.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
I like it. I like it a lot.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Am I allowed to have an opinion?
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Well, you can say whatever you like. You're running this show. Apparently,
I think.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
It's great too.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
I think it's great because, like you've already acknowledged that,
it gives there's time for kids to kind of navigate
life in a new space without added complication. But I
also think they've got time on their side.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
So they can get their friends around now and just
get face to face.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
They've got time on their side, And I feel like
for those kids who are motivated, I think it's actually
going to be hugely successful. For the kids that aren't motivated,
it could be a little bit more challenging, But I
think that if parents engage, there's actually a really awesome opportunity.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah, so parent engagement's going to be huge around this,
and for me, that's the key thing. It's also worth highlighting.
Parents don't get to abbrogate the responsibility here and say, oh, well,
now that the social media a major legislation is in,
I don't need to talk to my kids about screens.
We've still got a lot going on here that really
does matter, and I don't think that we can even
for a moment, pretend that that this is just going
(08:04):
to go away, screens will cease to be an issue.
This is a first step and it's important, but there's
a lot more to do Before you ask the next question.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
We need to take a quick break.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
But after the break, the Big four questions about how
this minimum age social media legislation affects families.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
We're back.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
This is the Happy Family's podcast. My name's doctor Justin Coulson,
and today I'm being interviewed in the absence of a
reporter who was not allowed to be on the podcast
to ask these questions. I'm being interviewed by missus Happy Families,
who wants to know what the reporter wanted to know.
What's the next question.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Well, you've already acknowledged that you have only one child
who will be navigating the social media ban. I'm interested
to know how you're navigating it with her.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
So we've had quite a number of conversations. She told
us that all of her friends were going to get VPNs.
They were going to be sneaky. They thought it was stupid,
They hate it, And we asked her how she felt,
and slowly but surely, over the last little while, she's
been reducing her.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Access to platforms.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
She deleted one platform, then a few weeks later she
deleted the next platform. She's been using them a little
bit less, and we've just been talking to her about
why this matters. And I don't think that it's been
nearly enough I'm not satisfied at all with the with
the way that she's done it. I would have loved
to have seen her do more. But at the end
of the day, it's going to happen. It's futile for
(09:31):
her to fight against it. And as of today, she
doesn't have access to social media. So yeah, it's kind
of it's futile and now it's happening.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
What do we do if, like we mentioned earlier, we've
got teenagers who are less motivated, how do we ensure
that they don't feel isolated.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
There's this argument that there are disadvantaged kids or minority
kids who get support and help because they're allowed to
have access to social media. There are two things that
I want to say about that. First of all, if
you look closely at the research, that's not necessarily the case.
It might be in unique circumstances, but generally, if for
kids having a hard time offline because of their minority
status or because of their group status, for whatever reason,
(10:14):
when they go online, they tend to Yes, they might
find some people who can be supportive, but they tend
to get a pretty hard time on.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Life as well.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
To say, yeah, it kind of aligns pretty well with
real life.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Yeah, being online is not a safer place generally speaking.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
It's worse.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Even for people who have challenging backgrounds and who are
looking for support online, it's very, very hard to get
that support. Once they get the community, it can be helpful,
but it's also reinforcing and doesn't necessarily help them to
learn to navigate real life effectively, which has lots of downsides.
Second thing to highlight is just this whole social media argument.
I mean, I'm in a couple of group chats, and
(10:52):
because I've gotten rid of social media myself, I've asked
if we can move those group chats from Facebook Messenger
to WhatsApp, and somebody said, well, it's a difference. And
the difference for me is when I'm on WhatsApp, it's
just social conversation. It's literally us talking in our group chat,
Whereas when you're on Facebook and you check your Messenger,
(11:12):
the algorithm also reaches out to you and pulls you
back into the main side of Facebook, and then you
get caught up in the algorithm. It's got its tentacles
into you. And this is the central point that I
want to make in terms of isolation being on social media.
Is isolating Facebook. Recently, we're involved in an anti trust
trial in the United States. For those who are not
familiar with anti trust, it's basically about breaking up monopolies.
(11:35):
And in the anti trust trial, Facebook made the argument
that between eighty and ninety percent of interaction on their
platform now is not social. Rather, it's people who don't
know each other, watching short form video slash TV content
and commenting, liking, and sharing. So we're not really following
our friends, we're not really engaging with our friends, and
(11:57):
social media has literally become not social media but short
form television or short form video media. And the algorithm
is so addictive that it's causing harm to our kids
and it's taken them away from real life. So the
services this is from the eesafety dot gov dot AU website.
The services that e safety considers will be age restricted
(12:20):
include Facebook, Instagram, kick, Reddit, Snapchat, threads, TikTok, twitch x
formerly Twitter, and YouTube, but it doesn't include discord, getthub, Google, Classroom, Lego, play, Messenger, Pinterest, roadblocks,
Steam and steam Chat, WhatsApp, and YouTube kids. Now, these
(12:44):
may change as time goes on, but the thing that
I want to emphasize here is that the things that
have stayed Discord Messenger, roadblocks and WhatsApp the main ones
that I'm going to pick on right now, and even
Pinterests who have literally reached out and said what can
we do so that we can make sure that we
(13:04):
are safe for people to be on. These are mainly
about messaging. Now there's some horrendous stuff that still gets
message on these platforms. So I'm still concerned about these
platforms for our under sixteenes. I don't think they should
be on them, But at least there's no algorithms. At
least there's no addictive technology, and these ones don't foment
(13:24):
isolation the way the big ones do that have been
highlighted as being age restricted.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
So what are some activities that might act as a
good distraction over the school holidays?
Speaker 3 (13:35):
I mean, like anything.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
When I was a kid, literally my parents didn't see
me during the school holidays. From about the age of thirty, my.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Parents would say the same thing about their teenagers, except
in your case, you were outside, and in a lot
of cases our kids are actually just in their bedroom.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
They're in the bedroom, or they're laying on the living
and floor or the rumpstrom floor playing a video game
or something. When I reflect on my adolescent years, from
about the age of thirteen, I started surfing. Wh meant
that I had to ring my friends on the telephone
that was connected to the wall in the kitchen, and
they had to pick up the phone on the wall
in their kitchen, and we had to say, what bus
are you catching? And then we would they caught the
bus from a different bus stop to me, about fifteen
(14:12):
twenty minutes down the road, so hopefully they would catch
the bus, and they would often have to run because
we'd look at the timetable and go, oh my goodness, run,
And then I would go to the bus stop and
hopefully they'd be on the bus, and if they weren't,
I'd get off the bus and then I'd walk home
and I'd ring them. I'd say you missed the bus,
or I'd wait and hope that they were on the
next bus, and then we would go to the beach
and we would serve all day, and then we would
come home and get this. I would sit down on
(14:33):
a Saturday afternoon, I would watch four or five or
six hours of Wide World of Sports on Channel nine.
And that was fine. Why because I was outside for
half the day, and I was physically active, and I
was with my friends, and there was lots of social time,
lots of face to FaceTime, and I didn't really care
and Dad didn't really care that I was getting four
or five or six hours of TV on a Saturday
afternoon because I was living this really full and really
active life. I'm not an anti screen, I keep on
(14:55):
saying this. I'm not anti screen. I am pro living
a full, balanced, whole healthy life. And if this legislation
stops you kids from being on social media but they're
still playing Roadblock, they're still playing Fortnite, They're still on
their screens all day, every day, and they can be,
make no mistake, they still can be, then the legislation
has done nothing really.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
So what I'm.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Interested in when you ask the question about what shoul
the kids be doing, my answer is I don't care
so long as they're living a full life. If you
live in a home like most Australians do, your kids
are probably going to have a bicycle. There's probably going
to be a basketball hoop somewhere. There's probably going to
be a trampoline in the backyard, or a swing set
that's going to be a park down the road, or
a beach, or a mountain to climb, or a skate park,
(15:37):
or there'll be something somewhere. So I think the most
important words that we can say to our tween and
teens across the summer now of this legislation here is
go outside, but on board, I know, go outside, or
we can say, well, I mean, what would you like
me to do about your boedom? Because that's what my
parents used to say to me, what would you like
(15:57):
me to do about it? And I'd look at them
and that they were saying, it's not my problem, and
they actually couldn't do anything about my boredom.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
My boardom was my problem.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
My dad used to say, only boring people get bored,
and maybe that was marm I can't remember. So when
I think about your question, what might act as a
good distraction over the school holidays?
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Life?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Life would be a good distraction from screens over the holidays.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Well, doctor, justin thank you so much for your time today.
I had a few other questions, but you've already answered
them all, so I think we'll call it quits there.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Kylie, Intrepid Reporter extraordinaire. It's been a delight to talk
with you, and thank you so much for asking that
other reporter's question so that we could do this podcast
episode today.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
I really hope that it's helpful.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Honestly, this is a good thing, but there is still
work for us to do as parents. Because kids can
still use their screens as much as you let them.
They've still got access to a lot of content online
and a lot of things that can keep them occupied
there that's not going to be in their best interests.
If you would like more information about what's going on,
check out e safety dot au. There is a social
media hub there that's really easy to find and it's
(16:58):
got everything that you need to know the social media
minimum age obligation legislation, and I think you find it
really helpful.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Willing to that in the show notes.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
The Happy Families podcast is produced by Justin Roland from
Bridge Media. Mim Hammonds provides research, admin and all of
our other support and for more information about making your
family happy, please visit Happyfamilies dot com dot au.
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