There was a time when childhood meant scraped knees, muddy shoes and the sound of laughter echoing around the neighbourhood until the streetlights came on. Friendships were built face to face, arguments were settled in person, and conversations lasted for hours as children discovered who they were through the company of others. Of course, we could be little terrors as well, playing knock down ginger and the occasional dropped water bomb (I never did this 😩) wink wink
Today, many of those moments have been replaced by scrolling, swiping and staring into a screen.
Should Under-16s Be Banned from Social Media? A Parent’s Perspective – Elysium Chats
Watch Sue Moxley and Paola Minekov discuss the ban. Join us on Substack to Follow Elysium Chats.
With new laws proposing to ban social media for under-16s, the debate is fierce. Will it really work? Many people believe determined youngsters will still find ways around the rules, meaning the legislation alone may not change very much. According to a new study published in the British Medical Journal, this experiment is so far failing in Australia, with 85% of Australian kids still accessing restricted social media platforms such as TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram.
But perhaps that’s missing the bigger picture.
Maybe this isn’t about creating the perfect solution. Maybe it’s simply about drawing a line and saying that childhood should be protected for just a little longer.
I am not a parent, but I meet a lot of women in my day job who talk about their own children’s lack of interaction with their friends. They meet up but don’t talk to each other, just stare at screens together! I can’t help but reflect on my own childhood. We spent our days talking, playing games, climbing trees and having endless discussions with friends. We learned how to make people laugh, how to disagree respectfully, how to read body language and how to build lasting friendships. Those everyday moments shaped our confidence and helped form our personalities.
Many children today communicate through messages and emojis before they’ve mastered real conversation. Some struggle with eye contact, lack confidence in social situations or feel more comfortable online than in the company of their peers. While technology has connected the world, it has also, in some cases, created a generation that finds genuine human interaction more difficult.
That is why parents have such an important role to play.
Rather than seeing a social media ban as a punishment, perhaps it could become an invitation to rediscover the simple joys of childhood. Encourage children to lose themselves in a book, write stories of their own, join a sports club, learn an instrument or spend an afternoon exploring the countryside instead of scrolling through endless videos.
Perhaps it is smartphones for under 16s that should be banned altogether, and not just access to certain websites.
Nature has a remarkable way of slowing us down.
Reading expands imagination.
Writing gives children a voice.
Hobbies build confidence and resilience.
These experiences cannot be measured in likes or followers, yet they often leave the greatest mark on a young person’s life.
Will banning social media until the age of 16 solve every problem? Probably not. Many of us doubt it will make a dramatic difference on its own.
But it starts a conversation.
If these new laws encourage families to spend more time together, inspire children to discover passions beyond a screen and remind us all of the importance of real conversations and real connections, then perhaps they will have achieved something truly valuable.
Because no app will ever replace a walk in the woods, a book that sparks a lifelong love of reading or the confidence that comes from sitting with friends, talking, laughing, and simply being present.
Sometimes the greatest gift we can give our children isn’t more technology. It’s more childhood.
