Social media age limit will help anxious kids, says clinical psychologist

An anxiety crisis gripping Australian school kids has experts urging the federal government to raise the minimum age for social media, even if there’s a chance some teens will find ways around the new rules.

An anxiety crisis gripping Australian school kids has experts urging the federal government to raise the minimum age for social media, even if there’s a chance some teens will find ways around the new rules.

Parenting and mental health professionals have backed calls to ban children under the age of 16 from using platforms like Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, as well as TikTok and Snapchat to give schools and families a fighting chance to mitigate the harms to young developing minds.

Clinical psychologist and adjunct fellow at Macquarie University Dr Danielle Einstein has raised the alarm about students turning to online platforms to “manage” their anxiety.

She said this coping method of seeking validation or assurance through social media had instead contributed to a rise in anxiety disorders in Australia.

“Online connection through social media posts may feel like an effective strategy to manage emotions, however it is not beneficial as a response to feelings of anxiety,” she said.

Her recent joint research found 11 per cent of students with “high FoMO” — or fear of missing out — their social media use was associated with “more anxiety”.

In a submission to the ongoing parliamentary inquiry into social media, Dr Einstein said raising the minimum age for social media use to 16-years-old was important “even if current age verification technology may not be fool proof”.

“The fact that underage use is against the law will assist parents, schools and psychologists to support students to curb social media use for the benefit of their own mental health and that of their community,” she said.

Mental health and parenting experts have supported a push to raise the minimum age for social media.

Dr Einstein said changing the law and implementing education campaigns would “convey a clear message” about the risks to kids.

Young women are particularly vulnerable, with anxiety disorders among 16 to 24-year-old females in Australia doubled from 18.9 per cent in 2014 to 40.4 per cent in 2022, according to an Australian Bureau of Statistics study.

Parenting educator Maggie Dent has also backed raising the social media age to 16 in her submission to the inquiry as it was clear big tech companies were unwilling to impose adequate safeguards on their own.

“Given they are refusing to accept any responsibility and to make the changes needed, we need to protect out kids by banning access,” she said.

Coalition communications spokesman David Coleman says the minimum age for social media should be 16. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Ms Dent said increased social media use had repeatedly been linked to “worse sleep quality and higher levels of anxiety and depression” with researchers increasingly finding there is “causation” not just “correlation” between the two.

She said a US review of more than 100 studies lead by social psychologist Professor Jon Haidt concluded there was “substantial” evidence social media had become a “major cause of the epidemic of mental illness in teen girls”.

Coalition communications spokesman David Coleman said Dr Einstein’s research on the link between rapidly rising levels of anxiety and social media was a “call to action” upon which governments “must act”.

“We strongly agree with Dr Einstein that the age of access for social media must be raised to 16, to protect children from the clear dangers of these platforms,” he said.

Mr Coleman said the days of allowing social media companies to sign up young children “must end”.

Originally published as Social media age limit will help anxious kids, says clinical psychologist