What is social media?

When I was in Australia last November, I heard on the radio that the country was going to ban children below 16 years old from ‘social media’. I’ve heard about Tik Tok and Instagram from my friends and relatives, and sometimes my parents show us interesting news or videos from these, but what’s so dangerous about them and why are children below 16 years old not allowed to use them?

Once upon a time…

My parents tell me that when they were kids, there were hardly any mobile phones. They carried this box looking thing called a pager (doesn’t seem to describe it at all). And when mobile phones did become more popular, they had small screens where you could only call or text your friends. It wasn’t until they were in college did they begin to use mobile phones with colored screens.

The Apps

On the phones we see today, you can download these things called apps, which are really like different toys available in your toy cupboard. Each toy can do different things and some of the toys can help you interact with your friends through sharing texts, pictures or even videos. Because so many people use them, people even share news on them, making them one place where you can both read the news about what’s happening in the world and the news that is happening in your friends’ lives. That’s social media

Is it bad?

The companies that create these apps make more money if more people download and use their apps. In order to encourage that, they don’t control the things people are sharing on them, creating the problem. The Australian government thinks that the ban will protect children like you and me from harmful content and cyber bullying, which makes sense. They have allowed some like YouTube Kids and Google Classroom to continue - which is good because my teachers use them sometimes.

My parents tell me that the ban makes it safer for kids in general, and that sounds good to me. Anyway, I rather be reading my book or out cycling at the park!