Premier Steven Miles and wife Kim open up about protecting their children from social media

Premier Steven Miles’ wife Kim has revealed her biggest fear and the struggles the couple face protecting their children from online predators and trolls.

• Premier writes: More restrictions needed

Premier Steven Miles and his wife Kim have for the first time opened up about their struggles protecting their children from the dangers of social media, including discovering a stranger attempting to solicit photos through popular children’s game ROBLOX.

Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Mail, Mr Miles and Ms McDowell shared the daunting experience when one of their children was targeted through the ROBLOX chat function, requesting inappropriate photos.

“They started to ask for things that were pushing the edge,” Ms McDowell said.

“Where it was going to go, you don’t know, but it was a flag for us to go, that’s strange.”

While the incident was quickly shut down, it was both a close call and a wake up call for the Miles-McDowell family.

Premier Steven Miles at home with his wife Kim and children Bridie, 10, Sam, 16, and Aidan, 13 (and dogs Lucy and Poppy). Picture: Tara Croser.

“This chat function caught us and I had no idea you could be talking to anybody out there on that game,” Ms McDowell said.

“Once I realised that happened, we started looking at apps much more carefully.”

Penning an open letter to Queensland parents, Mr Miles said his family was not exempt from the dark corners of the internet and like others, were trying their best to navigate social media with their children by promoting a safe space to talk about troubling online experiences.

“In our house we have experienced scammers making threats, parents using their kids to solicit photos and bullying in class group chats,” he said.

“If I’m honest, there could be all sorts of other things we will never know about.

“It’s really just hoping that if they have seen something that troubles them, or they have a bad experience, they come and talk to you.”

As a mother, Ms McDowell admitted to being slightly more concerned over her daughters exposure to social media than her sons due concentrated body shaming content directed mostly to females.

Premier Steven Miles and his wife Kim McDowell speak about the issues of parenting in the age of social media and big tech. Picture: Tara Croser.

It comes after a Queensland study revealed this week 98 per cent of girls aged 14-19 have been cyberbullied, with 62 per cent of attacks relating to appearance.

“You’re worried about seeing her having access to things that might not make her feel as comfortable in her own body as she should,” Ms McDowell said.

She also had to teach her sons how to identify misogynistic behaviour online, particularly during the highly publicised Amber Heard and Johnny Depp court case.

“When that started hitting the boys’ socials, and listening to some of the discussions around that, where you could hear that it was kind of indoctrinating young men to perceive a particular thing about this situation that I wasn’t okay with,” she said.

“And I was like, well, we’ve got to have a talk about this, because what you’re getting from bits and pieces you’re seeing, that’s not how the world works.”

Former Meta product manager Frances Haugen earlier this year warned kids shouldn’t have access to smartphones before 14, due to being bombarded with harmful content through carefully constructed algorithms.

While the Miles-McDowell family didn’t let their children have phones until high school, Ms McDowell noted that the restriction was sometimes redundant, with most primary schools now requiring students to own iPads or tablets.

“When they were smaller, we’ve had more physical boundaries, like you can’t have screens when we’re not in the space … no phones in the bedroom for a while,” she said.

“But when you’ve got kids at a school where they expect you to have an iPad, you’ve got to be aware that, basically, your kids got a phone in their room … you can FaceTime, you can message, you can be on apps.”

Kim McDowell said negative social media comments about her husband were another issue facing her family. Picture: Tara Croser.

Another family hurdle was watching strangers post nasty comments on Mr Miles’ own social media accounts - something Ms McDowell particularly struggles with.

“We have the weirdly unique situation of having to watch your husband/father in a very public role,” she said.

“You’ve got to talk to the kids and say, people are being mean, but also some of those people aren’t real.

“They seem to have just taken it all in stride, but I would have found it hard to have read some of the things that they would have to have read about him.

“I find it hard as his wife.”

Conversely, she has also had to defend her own daughters presence on her husband’s TikTok.

“I’ve had conversations where people have sort of been critical of the fact that we are letting her be online or using her,” she said.

“She was seven months old when he was elected to and so she knows no other life but for dad being in a public space and so I think you see that play out in terms of it being normal for her.”

Instead, her biggest fear is her kids being exposed to anything online that they could be normalised in real life, like drug use, and them not feeling comfortable enough to talk to her about it. “I’ve got friends trying to navigate kids that have completely shut down, the communication is zero, and they’re in fear,” she said.

“I’ve heard plenty of horror stories, not just our family, but other families and kids having to leave schools because their lives were ruined by possibly sending some compromising photos to somebody who did some terrible things to them as a result. “And just look at that and think, these are kids.”

Queensland Premier Steven Miles at home with his wife Kim McDowell. Picture: Tara Croser.

Mr Miles said News Corp Australia’s Let Them Be Kids campaign had struck a chord with him due to his children's’ own negative online experiences and says parents need more tools and support.

“You just don’t want your kids to experience those kinds of things, but they live in a world where they will,” he said.

“There has got to be more we can do.”

The Premier discussed the South Australian High Court review on social media bans at national cabinet last week with fellow premiers Peter Malinauskas and Chris Minns, hinting that further collaboration between the states and federal government was on the cards.

He said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had been receptive to but limiting social media access would require the use of Commonwealth powers.

“We talked about how pretty much all the states are committed to doing things, but it would be better to do it together and do it nationally,” he said.

“I’m just looking forward to getting that report, looking forward to talking to Peter and Chris and the other premiers about what the next steps are.”

The Morcombes on Sunday said Mr Miles’ story showed it didn’t matter who you were, all children were in danger online.

“Doesn’t matter if you’re the Premier’s child or not. I mean, all parents need to keep their kids safe on all devices,” she said.

“There’s so many predators out there. Everyone needs to make sure that their children are safe with who they’re talking to.

“The parents pay for the devices, they pay for the Internet and the mobile services. Parents should be watching what children are doing.”

The comments were made during an announcement of implementing Daniel’s Law under the LNP.