Ryan Bridge: We're cracking down on the kids

The youth are out of control. 

We'll crush the cars.

We'll crush the smartphones. 

Which all sounds nice this will... like most laws designed to make us feel like we're getting a handle on social problems, will all come down to enforcement.

For all the time Judith Collins spent at the scrap metal yards for photo ops, was not quite the Crusher those photos ops made her out to be. 

In the five years after they passed the law, three cars were crushed. 

But that was a three-strike solution, Mark Mitchell, the destroyer, is moving us to a first strike programme... so you're one Gone in 60 Seconds Street race away from destruction or your car ending up on the Turner's auction site. 

If you've tried to get some sleep in an area where they convoy in some Subaru at 3am in the morning, you'll know how annoying these so-called meet ups are. 

It wastes so much police time. They're crashing into each other and hurting themselves. Ripping up the road. 

So yeah, why not double down on the crusher, but this won't make the problem disappear. 

Somewhat ironic, too, because we're saying screen time is bad. Get off your phone. Go outside and do something. 

These kids are off their phones, fixing their cars. Learning about engines. Chatting with one another face-to-face. Actually, out there doing something other sitting at home on Tiktok. 

The TikTok problem is the far bigger problem because it affects all of them not just the few who race cars. 

By their first year of High School, 90% of kids have a smartphone. 

This is interesting now because we've moved beyond Member's bill to a government bill being proposed, so a social media ban is now officially on the agenda. 

The problem with enforcement here is obvious - how do you do when there are so many workarounds. 

And the enforcers will not be police, they'll be parents. 

And here's the problem. Most parents spend time more time on social media than their kids.

Nearly half of kiwi teens say their parent is at least sometimes distracted by their phone when they’re trying to talk to them.

Isn't that a bit hypocritical? Like telling them not to smoke while puffing away on a pack of winne blues? 

Enforcement of whatever rules we pass to manage the impulses of teenagers will ultimately determine how successful those measures are in stopping them doomscrolling or joyriding. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So we're cracking down on the kids. We're going to
crush the cars. We're going to crush the smartphones, which
all sounds nice and lovely, but it'll come down to enforcement.
For all the time Judith Collins spent in the scrap
metal yards for photo ops, it's not quite the crusher
that those photo ops made her out to be. She wasn't.
And the five years after they passed the law, guess

(00:22):
how many cars they crushed? Three? But that was a
three strike solution. Mark Mitchell, the destroyer is moving us
to a first strike program. So you're gone in sixty
second street race. You just won away of those from
the destruction of your car or potentially your car ending
up on the turner's auction website. If you've tried to

(00:42):
get some sleep in an area where this convoy or
one like at some sabaru at three am in the
morning and there are dozens of them, very annoying, very distracting,
can't sleep. I can see why they're doing this, So
why not double down on the crusher thing? But it's
about enforced, isn't it. And that's the same with the phones.

(01:04):
The phones, the tiktop problem far bigger than the car
one because it affects well most kids. About ninety percent
of kids when they get to high school have a smartphone.
So this is interesting because we moved beyond a members
bill now to a government bill, so a social media
ban of some sort is officially on the agenda. The

(01:24):
problem with enforcement here is obvious. How do you you
know when there are so many workarounds, how do you
make sure they're not going on social media? And the
enforces will not be the police, It will be the parents.
And here is the problem with that. Most parents spend
time on social media, spend more time on social media
than their kids. Nearly half of KIWI teams say that

(01:48):
their parent is at least sometimes distracted by their phone
when they're talking to them. What sort of an example
is being set here? Is it like telling you not
to smoke while you're puffing away on a pack of
Winning Blues on the couch. Enforcement of whatever rules we
pass to manage the impulses of our teenagers will ultimately

(02:10):
be determined by how successful those measures are in being enforced.
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