Sarah Herrmann, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

Kadina’s Charli Pearce was 10 years old when she started using social media.

Now 18, she said while she somewhat regrets that decision, she also believes attempts to stop young people from using it will be fruitless. On September 8, the State Government announced its plans to ban children under 14 from social media and was backed by the Federal Government three days later.

The State Government announcement said children aged 14 and 15 would also be affected under the proposed legislation, as they would require parental consent to use social media.

Ms Pearce said there were positive and negative sides of social media use by young people, with the former including being able to access different perspectives and expand their worldview.

“At that age, I was curious about everything,” she said.

“One of the main ways I could retain that we had a bigger world was (through) social media.

“Social media is a good way to shape people’s mindsets, but that can also turn out really bad if they come across the wrong content.

“They get to learn a lot, but they might learn too much. There’s a lot of tough topics that just get thrown in your face.”

The 18-year-old said she also had plenty of damaging experiences on social media, some stemming from being too young to fully express and comprehend tone.

“You can take a lot of things out of context,” she said.

“I got into a lot of situations where I was faced with a bombardment of people telling me off or getting upset with me because I might have said something without really thinking, or people don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

More grimly, as a teenager she also came across catfishing (people using a fake identity to trick others) and predators when conversing with strangers via fandoms (groups of people who share a common interest).

“I didn’t know who they were beyond the screen; I just saw them at face value,” she said.

“They sneak up on you really easily knowing that you are so innocent to the world.

“They just ask you so many different questions and they know you like the back of their hand.”

However, Ms Pearce thinks young people will easily overcome barriers like ID verification the government wants to put in place to restrict access to social media.

She said she thought increasing cybersafety education — which in her experience dropped off as she progressed through school —would be more beneficial.

“We’re dependent on social media and screens these days,” she said.

“I think we need to have a constant reminder that our actions have consequences even if it’s behind a screen.”

Verification tick withheld

Social media and mental health experts have criticised the State Government’s proposed social media ban.

RMIT University information sciences professor Lisa Given said children needed to gain the necessary skills to navigate the online world.

“Parents and teachers play a key role in supporting children to develop technical and information literacy around these platforms,” she said.

“Young people may also find ways to circumvent these bans and be less likely to disclose if they have encountered harmful content.

“There are technological challenges around age verification that will make a ban very difficult to enact or enforce.

“For example, strategies of age assurance are easily circumvented by users, while strategies for verifying age raise data privacy concerns.”

A Black Dog Institute spokesperson said a ban would be a “false sense of security” for parents, rather than a substantial solution.

“Research by ReachOut has found that 73 per cent of young people use social media for mental health support, and that half of young people with mental health challenges use social media as a substitute for professional support,” the spokesperson said.

“Additional findings from Black Dog Institute’s Future Proofing Study suggest online social connectivity offers adolescents with opportunities to enhance wellbeing by strengthening existing relationships with their peers and reducing isolation and loneliness.

“This complex issue requires a thoughtful response that recognises both the harms and the benefits of digital technology in the lives of young people.

“We also need social media platforms to step up, and take responsibility for their products and make sure that young people are not exposed to harmful content.” 

This article appeared in  Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 24 September 2024.