Will banning kids from social media help?

Australia are looking to potentially ban kids from using social media in an effort to stem a wave of mental health challenges being faced by that country's youth. If successful, the passing of this law will make Australia one of the first countries in the world to successfully regulate the use of social media.

Perhaps feeling rather glum following the recent poor performances by the Wallabies (the Australian national rugby union team who suffered a record defeat to Argentina over the weekend) the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, apparently commanded:

"I want to see kids off their devices and onto the footy fields and the swimming pools and the tennis courts."

Will banning kids from social media help?

There is some evidence to suggest that some social media content viewed by children at an impressional age doesn't exactly promote an overwhelmingly positive self image, but just targeting social media as the primary cause of the growing prevalence of poor mental health in youth is laughable.

Other research shows that all of the social media doomsayers are confusing correlation with causation (where have we heard this one before?) and in actual fact there is zero scientifically-based proof that followers, likes, thumbs up or heart emojis cause any negative affects in teens at all.

Rather than conducing proper research into what is really at the heart of adolescent angst, frustration, rebellion and depression (aka...adolescence itself) - nanny states countries like Australia may increasingly look at populist (ineffective) solutions to otherwise incredibly complex challenges to win favour with ignorant voters.

For us what this story highlights is just how out of depth so many leaders are in the face of reality. In response they turn to seemingly 'logical and overly simple' solutions that inadvertently could cause far more harm than relief. Ignorant followers of these 'leaders' go along with these ideas, because they sound like plausible solutions - and so the merry-go-round continues.

Attempting to destroy something by banning it has never worked in the history of banning things - and Australia are certainly not about to change history right now.

More:

Australia moves to ban young people from social media | Semafor

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government would introduce the legislation by the end of 2024.

Semafor LogoPaige Bruton

The Anxious Generation wants to save teens. But the bestseller’s anti-tech logic is skewed

There’s no doubt about the mental health crisis facing young people. Jonathan Haidt blames our devices – which oversimplifies the problem

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The great rewiring: is social media really behind an epidemic of teenage mental illness?

The evidence is equivocal on whether screen time is to blame for rising levels of teen depression and anxiety — and rising hysteria could distract us from tackling the real causes.

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