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Lisa Mayoh: We need to smarten up on children’s phone usage

If parents as a collective decide their kids won’t have access to apps they’re too young for, we’re in it together. If no one has it, no one misses out, writes Lisa Mayoh.

Kids will ‘get around’ government’s social media age limit ban

The tide may be turning when it comes to smart phones – and not a second too soon. My middle daughter turns 13 this year and has just started high school, where, of course the parent WhatsApp groups are inundated with messages, day and night.

But the conversation went from what time netball grading was on and how to find a bag left on the bus to the topic of smart phones – and there was a fast and furious reaction to it.

Many parents aren’t allowing smart phones at all, instead giving their kids dumb phones with no internet. And if they do have a smart phone, its strictly for calls and messages. No Snapchat. No TikTok – not even WhatsApp.

Big calls for parents, and a far cry from even two years ago when my eldest was in year 7 – much less talk of dumb phones then, and look where it’s got us. Changing the law to stop kids having social media accounts under the age of 16 – and leading the world in the process – is a huge and needed step in the fight to undo damage done to a generation who don’t know any better.

Changing the law to stop kids having social media accounts under the age of 16 is a huge and needed step in the fight to undo damage done to a generation who don’t know any better. Picture: iStock
Changing the law to stop kids having social media accounts under the age of 16 is a huge and needed step in the fight to undo damage done to a generation who don’t know any better. Picture: iStock

While it’s our responsibility to enforce and restrict, the legal onus of that change falls on social media platforms – not young people or us parents – so I did worry about whether true change will actually follow. But, even anecdotally, I feel it already has.

If parents as a collective decide their kids won’t have access to apps they’re too young for, we’re in it together. If no one has it, no one misses out.

If parents as a collective decide their kids won’t have access to apps they’re too young for, we’re in it together. Picture: iStock
If parents as a collective decide their kids won’t have access to apps they’re too young for, we’re in it together. Picture: iStock

My year 9 daughter is at a live-in school where phones aren’t allowed for the whole year, and it wasn’t an issue for her because they’re all in the same boat.

“I use my phone to message my friends,” she said when asked if it would be hard. “But if I’m with my friends, we won’t need to do that.”

The truth is teens use apps like Snapchat and TikTok to communicate. They don’t know each other’s phone numbers. They message on social media to work out what time to meet after school or what to wear to the party at the weekend.

WhatsApp is for Boomers, apparently. So is Instagram, and don’t get them started on Facebook but Snapchat, I’m told, is important.

It’s a fine line. If they do have it, there need to be restrictions. Monitor what they do, educate them about what never to post, what to report, why they should never interact with strangers. It’s a minefield. So bring on the dumb phones, I say. Or the watches that allow you to message and track kids as they get off the bus. Let’s stop the addiction before it starts. Switching off socials and firing up a dumb phone sounds pretty smart to me.

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Lisa Mayoh
Lisa MayohInsider Editor

Lisa Mayoh is the Editor of Insider, the arts and entertainment section of The Sunday Telegraph. She writes in-depth celebrity profiles, theatre, arts and entertainment features, and highlights important social affairs issues. Lisa has been a journalist for more than 20 years and is passionate about sharing people's stories.

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/lisa-mayoh-we-need-to-smarten-up-on-childrens-phone-usage/news-story/84caa2d4e330f82d240aace09d9f1c77