Social Media Ban for Under 16s Needs More Work

Now the socials ban for under 16s has been in place for a while and the fanfare and international approval and, in some cases emulation, has faded, the internet and its harmful content remains accessible to most.

The ban’s implementation was uneven. Some platforms being included and others not being impacted by the ban sent mixed messages politically and allowed for practical circumvention of intended protections.

Australian Christian College Marsden Park implemented the policy but principal Brendan Corr is still unconvinced that the ban has had a material effect. The issue requires on going work.

The school's supportive position on the social media ban was communicated to Secondary students at an Assembly near the beginning of the academic year as an expression of an “in principle" discouragement to live life online or engage in risky or offensive online behaviour. This included referring to the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, and providing students with a summary of the legislation and the reasons for it being enacted into law.

Corr says, “There has been some change and anecdotally students are accessing less social media and exhibiting fewer issues or at least fewer "unintentional" issues. But given our policy of no phones, it is hard to gauge the overall impact during the school day."

The ban is regularly being circumvented and the ugly stuff is still very present online.

“We know that it is being circumvented. There is still nasty stuff happening online and we have still had to deal with student related matters with social media.

“It has to some degree added weight to our position of preventing antisocial activity by now making it not just unwise or unhelpful but illegal,” he says.

Engaging with parents is essential in this area and in other aspects of school and students’ behaviour, as they spend the most time with their children and have the most influence on them.

“We have engaged with parents on a number of fronts, including through written communication such as newsletters and emails where links to helpful resources such as eSafety Commissioner, Blackdog Institute and a-Mental Health in Practice.

“As a college, we will continue to consider how we best educate them on their child’s use of technology and social media. Most parents seem very supportive of the work we are trying to do and the line that we hold, but enforcing that is a different story.”

The school has run awareness-raising and information-providing seminars for parents and their children to help frame discussions around social media and general screen use. This has covered the social media ban and sought to equip parents to engage with their children more.

The school continues to educate parents, to try and get them well aware of expectations of the school prior to enrolling. The school has run seminars for parents and their children to help frame discussions around social media and general screen use. This has covered the social media ban and sought to equip parents to engage with their children more.

“Our parent seminars have been well attended and have shown that parents have a willingness to work in cooperation and in partnership with the Australian Christian College Marsden Park. Scheduled meetings with individual families when they have been needed have also shown that parents have an ability to partner more robustly and specifically when a situation requires it.

“We have not yet had any resistance from any parent to our policies to hold to the principles and the practices of the Social media ban.

“There is more we would like to do. A joint Parent Body - Staff Body task force for communication about these issues. Recorded and published interviews with some of our parents about action they have taken in their homes as a way of normalising and enforcing the standards. These are still to come.”

The Australian Christian College (ACC) Group is a network of 20 Christian Schools in five states. The schools are inspired by a common vision and values yet deliver an educational experience which accounts for their respective local contexts. Some ACC schools have both on campus and online students, the ACC Group is the largest provider of non-government, online distance education in Australia.