Heads Up – social media is affecting kids' mental health and their lives - AusBiz
Social media didn't cause the youth mental health crisis, but it accelerated it. As Australia attempts to legislate its way out of the problem, researchers and parents are asking whether a ban can undo what the algorithm has already built.
Children and teens are impressionable. When experiencing the world, what they see can quickly turn into who they become. Adding social media to this equation, the prospect of what they’ll absorb becomes vastly greater. The internet landscape is complex, with endless data and information accessible to virtually anyone. Although restrictions are attempted, they’re often too weak to perform the way they’re intended to. The impressionable youth is absorbing much more through social media. The Heads Up AllianceTheHeads Up Allianceis a Sydney-based parent movement advocating for delayed smartphone and social media access, is already seeing this play out. “While social media companies have largely flouted the new law, it is quite simply not in their interests for it to succeed,” says Dany Elichi, Co-Founder and Movement Director of the Heads Up Alliance. “Many parents are still using the fact of the legislation to draw stronger boundaries within their own families. However, families who are delaying social media for their children tell us their children sleep better, play more, read more, engage with their parents more meaningfully, and are happier. ”Social media as an integral part of young livesSocial media is taking over teens’ lives. Parts of their growth revolve around it, from developing humour, to curating style, even establishing social status. There’s no question that teens are reliant on social media. With this, there’s pressure: are they engaging with the “right” things?Children and especially teens have always been judgmental, but now there’s an additional layer, a hawk eye view of their peers’ lives. With such acute observation, children and teens are hyper-conscious of what they interact with and how they portray themselves online. Being aware of your peers’ gaze is an intense pressure. It makes these young minds worry more about how they look than the integrity of their actions. They spend their time ensuring that they are perceived the way they think they should, obsessing over the newest trends. This has grown over time, from the mannequin in the window, to celebrities on the radio, to movies and television–but these methods of influence were monitored. Now, anyone can influence a child to look or act a certain way, and it’s right at their fingertips. Teens are hyper-aware of their peers judgements with social media as a part of their daily lives. A screen’s impact on mental healthAlthough the relationship between social media and mental health in the youth is well-documented, social platforms persist in children’s lives, becoming inseparable from their daily routines. For teens who excessively engage with social media, researchers have identified addiction-like, dependent behaviors. This problem cannot be attributed to social media alone. Children and teens naturally seek dopamine, especially after a long school day. Social media comes in to fill that gap with rapid intervals of dopamine hits that feel more engaging than healthier alternatives such as exercise or hobbies. As young children or teens become accustomed to that sense of excitement, they begin to completely replace these activities with screen time, thus resulting in consistently poor moods. Mood swings are a normal aspect of a teen’s day-to-day as they experience hormonal changes. However, seeing symptoms of mood disorders in younger children, rather than in adolescence, raises concerns about the trajectory of their emotional growth. The earlier these negative emotions take effect, the more likely they are to experience negative and possibly self-harmful thoughts when they’re older. Australia takes action: December 2025 social media banIn December 2025, Australia became the first country to createlegislationmeant to discourage the use of social media amongst young people. With this legislation, they banned children under sixteen from accessing social media platforms. Many questioned how this would be enforced, and Australia has not inflicted a penalty on children or parents who disobey guidelines. Rather, any big tech company that fails to take reasonable steps to enforce the ban will face fines exceeding $30 million. Just over six months into the ban, the result development has brought varied conclusions. Some teenagers have found ways around the ban and older teens aren’t changing their routines or use. Many big tech firms have criticised how the law was rushed; despite each individual company implementing their own in-app restrictions, the law prevented these measures from playing out, proving whether they do or do not work. Some Australian parents understand that effects may not show in the current generation because it’s more complex to accept them to adapt to new conditions. Rather it’ll take success in the next generation. Legislation alone may not be the answer. “Legislation is not the silver bullet that will give our children their childhoods back,” says Dany. “Ultimately, families need to set a new standard in the home, using the legislation as a scaffold. The hope is that in time, we will collectively set a new cultural norm. ”As this occurs, it will make it easier for younger children to accept these restrictions as a cultural expectation. In other words, the real test is how the law is upheld in the following decade. Regardless, Australia has set a precedent. Malaysia, Denmark and Norway, as well as US states like Florida and California, are all considering similar legislation. If the model upholds, the rest of the world might follow. The social media ban does more than block sensitive content–it completely restricts a child from accessing the platform. Credit: Suzi Media ProductionBeyond the ban: safe social media useSocial media is here to stay. As it continues to grow in its development and its catalog of information and posts, restrictions or bans placed now will become outdated. The cycle will inevitably repeat. Many argue that the focus should not be on banning access, but on creating a safer virtual environment. With this, teaching children about digital literacy and how to navigate a virtual space will give them the skills to properly use social media. In version nine of theAustralian curriculum, the framework for digital literacy is based on four elements: practicing digital safety and wellbeing, investigating, creating and exchanging, and managing and operating. Building these skills allows children and teens to responsibly operate digital intelligence. Balance is something most people strive for, but if it’s difficult for adults of all ages, why should we expect children to figure out this balance on their own? Considering social media and technology will continue to expand, balance is especially important for the younger generations. This is only possible with the proper tools to teach them how to use social media properly. TheUnited Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)urges for children-specific tools to be built, as current existing tools target a general population of users. Although many digital literacy tools aren’t geared towards children specifically, children and young teens are the ones who need the most attention. They’ve been raised in a digital age; their whole world revolves around intellectual technology. It’s easier for adults to limit screen time because most have once lived in a world without it. How do we expect children to remove themselves from an integral aspect of their lives without the proper tools?Since technology is here to stay, educating young children about digital literacy is vital. Credit: Taras GrebinetsAlgorithms: what reels young people into the digital trapThe more children spend on their screens, the more the algorithm develops a connection with the individual. Rather than connecting with a peer of their own intellectual level, they are creating a connection with an intellectual with far greater access to knowledge. The more an individual interacts with a social media algorithm, it picks up on preferences and behaviors to create suggestions for the user to engage with next. If a child spends excessive time interacting with the algorithm, it is more likely to feed potentially harmful content. Even if the child is lucky and is fed content of purely their own interests, the hyper-targeted content can encourage an addictive behavior to the platform. By limiting screen time, the algorithm has less of a chance to pull impressionable children and teens into rabbit holes of content. The deeper the content, the more likely it is to be misleading, evoke extreme emotion or impact controversial takes. This is compounded by a fundamental power imbalance. “The algorithms and the whole structure of social media is designed to hook children,” says Dany. “Families were previously in an unfair fight, pitted against some of the smartest and richest corporations on the globe. The new laws give strength to the parents. ”If you’d like to read more about Australian legislation on social media companies, check out this article on the tax on Big Tech companieshere.