Navigating social media with kids has become one of the toughest parts of parenting today’s kids. Photo: Kellie O’Brien.
Many parents are bracing for 10 December, when all-out war is expected to break out in many living rooms across the Illawarra.
The national social media ban that will prevent under 16s from creating or keeping a social media account is coming, and while the intention is noble, the logistics have left plenty of parents quietly Googling, “Wait … how does this actually work?”
Will teens be instantly booted off at midnight like a digital Cinderella?
Can they simply change their date of birth on their account and bypass the ban altogether?
Will a little blue-and-red flashing light appear if they break the rules?
Still, the new law is a positive step towards protecting young people from online bullying, harmful content, and the dopamine hit that encourages them to keep scrolling long past bedtime.
For those parents whose kids have yet to dip their toe into Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok, the ride will be relatively smooth – ignorance is a gift.
The real challenge is for those whose teens are already well immersed and now have to be navigated out.
Older generations may quip that, “In my day, we were too busy outside playing”. And hey, I was one of those.
But today’s kids are wired for instant reward, born swiping, and tech-savvy enough to outsmart a parent who still uses “password123”.
The peer pressure is real. The FOMO is real. The hormone-fuelled meltdowns may also be very, very real.
However, within all this mess we’ve found ourselves in, I’ve got to commend the schools, many of which are being proactive in preparing kids for what they’re dramatically calling “Doomsday”.
At my 15-year-old daughter’s school, they held a session explaining the purpose of the ban, but struggled a little when students asked the practical questions. (Join the club).
After one of these school sessions, Miss 15 came home and announced, “I can’t wait for 10 December to stop using social media”.
This, from a kid who has lived with the goal of not losing her SnapChat streak.
She then forced me to watch a TEDx talk on YouTube by a homeschooled TikToker about the dangers of being chronically online.
Yeah, I see the irony there. No need to point it out.
But it was worth the seven-minute watch.
Alana Lintao’s “Chronically Online: The Epidemic of the Century” highlighted how much time Generation Z is spending online – and how if nothing changes, they could lose 31 years of their lives looking down at a phone.
Not only that, she outlines the damaging effects social media is having on individuals and society as a whole.
Between the school session and this video, something clicked for her. Suddenly, she’s talking about living in the real world, rather than in a digital one.
She’s setting herself goals of getting back to reading real books – with pages that need to be flipped, not swiped.
She wants to spend more time cooking (which I fear means expensive ingredients and messy benches, but that’s a fight for another day).
And she wants to hang out with her friends in person, having real conversations that don’t require her to click “send” at the end of each sentence.
Best of all? Her friends want to follow suit. They want to keep each other accountable.
I know not everyone will get this lucky. For many families, this transition will be … a lot.
The temptation to cave will hit especially hard when the ban kicks in just before the longest school holidays of the year.
But the key is this: we do it together – schools, parents and peer groups pulling in the same direction.
Many of us will still give our kids phones for safety, especially if they’re catching trains, buses or going to after-school activities.
But what they do on them is what needs to change.
If you’re a parent of a teen, I’m wishing you strength, caffeine and reliable Wi-Fi for the inevitable parental Googling.
Come 10 December – we’ve got this.
