How to get Aussie kids off mobile phones

A world-first program is set to help Aussie teens deal with their ‘online lives’ after worrying data found half felt depressed when scrolling through their social media.

It’s been an issue many parents have tried and failed to get to grips with, but now Aussie teenagers will get lessons at school on how to manage their own personal screen time.

A pilot involving 3000 youngsters will start next week and is expected to scale up to include 30,000 Year 7 and 8 children from 2025.

It will be delivered by the mental health charity Black Dog Institute, which has teamed up with the Bupa Foundation to provide the world-first program.

A recent News Corp survey found half of Aussies felt sad or depressed after scrolling through their social media.

Black Dog Institute Associate Professor Aliza Werner-Seidler said they are launching the program in response to young people asking for help on how to manage their online lives.

Black Dog Institute Associate Professor Aliza Werner-Seidler. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“They have been telling us they want help,” Asoc Prof Werner-Seidler said. “But it is not about getting them off their devices, it’s about teaching them healthy ways to use them.”

She said the 20-minute long in-school program will target teens in early adolescence just as they begin to use their devices more independently.

She said the aim is to get children to understand the link between what they’re doing online and how it makes them feel. If watching certain videos is making them feel bad, to understand that the algorithm will continue to show them those types of videos, and how best to manage that.

The educators will use fact-based evidence to explain why they need to balance screen time with physical exercise and face-to-face contact with friends and family.

“Every person is different, so how long someone should spend online is down to the individual, but we want to give them the tools and information to make the right choices,” Asoc Prof Werner-Seidler said.

“The timing at around 12 to 13 years of age is intentionally chosen to coincide with the sharp rise in depression and anxiety rates, making it an optimal time to work with young people to enhance their resilience and prevent mental illness,” Asoc Prof Werner-Seidler said.

There will also be webinars for parents to help them support their kids.

Meanwhile, the Black Dog Institute is currently trialling another program with Deakin University that can detect if someone’s mental health is deteriorating just by analysing what they’re doing on their phone.

Clinical psychologist Peter Baldwin said the program can detect any unusual behaviour and send the user an alert to seek help.

Teens Frankie Gibson, Maeya Cassim and Hazel Easter agree that their social media usage should be limited. Picture: Tim Hunter.

He said new technologies like this could really benefit the 18 to 30 year old age group, especially young women whose mental health has significantly worsened since Covid.

Dr Baldwin said everyone has their own unique digital footprint, from what apps they look at online and when, to the way they type, amount of physical activity and the usual places they visit.

He said the program tracks all these elements and can even tell if someone is sitting up or lying down when they use their mobiles and whether it is an unusual for that individual.

He said there are already a number of mental health apps in use in Australia offering android psychologists people can access on their phones.

Dr Baldwin said technology advances could soon see us “all have a therapist in our pocket”.

It comes as the latest statistics show getting professional mental health help is not easy, with six month waits to see a psychologist or psychiatrist.

‘TIKTOK IS ENDLESS’: WHY KIDS AGREE WITH PARENTS’ SWITCHING OFF RULES

When Hazel Easter’s parents told her they wanted to put a time limit on how long she could spend on social media she wasn’t happy.

But after some negotiation they came to an agreed-upon three hour limit a day, including Snapchat which is her main means of communication with friends.

Hazel, 12, admits TikTok is her biggest time waster, and when she gets a five minute warning on her device that she is approaching her limit, she often can’t believe she’s been on it that long.

“I don’t mind the time limit, it gets me off my phone and doing something else, like doing things with family and friends,” Hazel said. “It’s actually nice getting off it, rather than just sitting in my bedroom doing nothing.”

Teenagers Frankie Gibson, Maeya Cassim and Hazel Easter say it’s easy to get stuck scrolling on social media. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Her friend Frankie Gibson, 13, agrees that it is easy to get sucked into scrolling.

“TikTok is endless, you can keep scrolling forever,” she said.

Maeya Cassim, also 13, said she knows that the social media companies use algorithms to keep feeding users similar videos to ones they have watched.

And, all three said they know of peers who use their phones for far longer than they do and late into the night.

They all understand that their phones are addictive, but sometimes getting off them or making healthy changes are hard.

Frankie said she takes proactive action if her scrolling turns into a negative experience.

“When an influencer makes me feel bad about myself I unfollow them,” Frankie said.

TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

Black Dog Institute’s academic clinical psychologist Peter Baldwin’s practical tips on how you can help yourself:

*If you’re depressed or anxious, do the opposite of what your head is telling you; go to that party, ring that friend, get out of bed and go for a walk.

*Don’t worry about bothering people you think are busy, they’re probably sitting on the sofa thinking the same thing as you. Make that call.

*Make use of your phone not to scroll through social media, but to connect with friends or family to arrange a face-to-face meet up.

*Turn the dial up, increase your social connections and see how much happier you feel.

*Talk to your GP, trusted friends and family.

Originally published as How to get Aussie kids off mobile phones