To be not that happy with the Aus under 16 rules

[marsala1]

As above, come December anyone under 16 in Australia will not be allowed on almost all platforms.Personally , I think 16yo is way too old . Do others agree? My 13yo has a youtube channel that he has had for years and he just posts easy ways to get through hard sections of Roblox games. If he posts he gets about 200000 views. He also has friends all over the world from playing online games . I know people will say that could be a 50yo man,but thats a lot of effort to keep up an American accent for 3 years. I can see some advantages but I'm not sure it's the best option. We have moved regionally and he has been able to keep in touch with friends via online games as well. His laptop is in the dining room and goes to school with him every day , so is a neccesity. Opinions?

Apologies for bad spelling!!!

I think 16 is too old, 14 would be more reasonable. I imagine that lots of teens will manage to circumvent the rules, but I do think it is necessary to try to reduce kids access to social media.

My 13 year olds sons YouTube account is actually mine, which I assume would get around any age laws, and I can also keep an eye on what he is watching/doing on there. I set up another one for myself so I don't have to trawl through Fortnite videos! Does the ban definitely include YouTube as there are an awful lot of YouTubers on there whose primary audience is under 16's!?

However I totally agree with the ban for things like Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. WhatsApp is a tricky one too as that's how I communicate with the kids when they are not home, and we send each other silly things too. I have boys, and I must say WhatsApp seems to cause a lot more trouble between girl groups from what I hear from other mums.

It'll be hard for the generation whose lives are already heavily involved in social media such as your son, but for the next lot coming up it'll probably be a very good thing.

(I am in the UK)

Yep, def Youtube. There was a big debate about it. I'm quite happy for my 13yo to be on youtube so find it a bit overreaching from the govt. We are are a very easy going lot but this seems to have slipped through.

Of course there are disadvantages. But the advantages of the ban outweigh the disadvantages.

So if he's had the account and been posting videos "for years" what age was he when you first let him have unrestricted access to YouTube?

I'm not sure. People will meet online far more often than in person, that may already be the case. I think if they have the tech to track criminals the they should definitely do that. Not spend time and money tracking down 14 and 15 yo's playing games. It's a swing too far
to the right for me.

He asked me when he was 5yo. I said as long as you don't say your name or our address/ country, then ok

Gosh I don't know what my boys would do without YouTube! It's a massive part of their lives. They and my husband watch most things on YouTube, far far more than the traditional TV. And my eldest posts videos too and he loves it. Blimey. I guess they can still watch content via adults accounts but uploading content and interacting with other YouTubers will no longer be allowed.

Yes. It's very dictatorial for such an easygoing country as ours. Will probs make me actually not vote Labor ( yes that's how it's spelled here) for the first time in my life!!

5??

My DC didn't even have access to the internet at 5. They were still playing with mud pies and train track and shit like that. Not plastering themselves all over social media.

Sorry but I actually think that's exactly what this law is designed to prevent and I'm quite shocked that you think a 5 yr old should be posting public videos of themselves on YouTube.

13 i think is still too young to own a YouTube channel and what comes with it (specifically upload rather than watching ) and 5 is why it’s ending up with strict laws as some parents don’t make sensible decisions.

I feel so out of touch with this world if giving a 5 year old access to YT is deemed acceptable.

Yes 5yo. He asked and ( as I said) I said he couldn't show his face or use his voice. Never had a problem. Computer is still in our main room. Haven't have a minutes problem ( except my 24yo saying "great parenting mum" He's a lawyer so I ignore him.)

Good god you are very lucky that didn’t go badly.

I think it’s great that something is being done to protect our kids - your child seems like a perfect example of why we need it.

Obviously everyone disagress with me, but what do you think is going to happen? Maybe it's because we live rurally so he would have to walk for an hour to get to the nearest train station, ( I think we would have caught him by then) but he just has no interest. I have an older child ( not the lawyer) who went wild, but he did and that was before he was allowed any internet access. He still went wild, and that was because we then lived in the city and he could walk to other "friends" places. Nothing to do with YT.

We could all spend all day listing examples but you already know the risks and chose to ignore. That’s your call. People don’t have to agree.

OK list one, remembering we live regionally and he can't go to anyone's house unless dropped off there.

Yabu. I think in x amount of years time we will have gone more steps and banned screens completely for under 16s. I’m a teacher, and from a teaching perspective, something has gone horribly wrong from about 2010 ish to now. Kids have no focus, and some of their processing skills are so so poor, so much worse than a decade ago. Is that phones? I don’t know. But I know something has happened.

My apologies , just realised there is another thread on this. Forget me.

he’s talking to people online from the age of ten in game who you have no idea about being exposed to bad language, inappropriate sexual things, being sent to links he should be.
on YouTube dealing with hate comments, putting something up online without fully understanding the consequences of that, while he’s happy to put something up at ten will he be happy if that resurfaces when he’s 20. Among many other things.

i really hope you’re joking, if not this law is literally to protect people like your son, who should not be chatting to randoms for years online when he is only 13 and should not be putting up YouTube videos at 5.

your son living remotely, doesn’t mean he should just be allowed to do whatever on the internet, he’s 13 go drop him off at peoples houses instead of letting him do whatever online

As I said I've just found another thread, but we have honestly had no probs with him being online since a young age, He is an academically selective high school ( not sure what you call them in the UK) and skipped a year in primary school ( after Covid) so it has has had zero effect on him intellectually, possibly improved it. Some people sometimes sound like people from the 50's ( OMG tv is the end of the world ) then ( the 90's MTV and computers are going to be the ruin of us all) - this one may be true. But all the millenials I know are wonderful, just pissed off about house prices ; and the Gen Z's are gorgeous. And they know more about what they are doing with regards to anything computer/digital than their parents. They are going to rule the world shortly taken over by the Gen A's. Way of the world. Go with the flow.

Should be 18 ! Kids have no reason to have social media channels .

Bless your naivety.

Having had many discussions with my own DC, various parents and relatives I'm probably in the minority with saying a ban can be counterproductive.

Social media is here to stay.

A lot of socialising, work commitments and hobbies are communicated via social media. Plus all that rubbish marketing that's out there!
Children absolutely need to grow into this and learn how to negotiate all that information & content.

So an outright ban isn't very helpful. But a more conservative and controlled approach were platforms and companies are accountable for the content they share is very much needed.

See it as a basic skill like reading, writing and maths. DC learn slowly and are exposed to ever more complex concepts.

We need a similar approach for Social Media.