SXSW Sydney: ‘Like cigarettes, this is going to take time’ – Wippa, Hamish Blake and Maggie Dent back raising the age for social media citizenship
(L-R):
At a panel at SXSW Sydney on Wednesday, radio host, comedian, and co-founder of the 36 Months initiative, Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli reminded the audience why social media is not a safe place for kids.
36 Months, a social change initiative co-founded by Wippa and CEO of production company FINCH, Rob Galluzzo, is urging the government to mandate social media citizenship, delaying the age teenagers can sign up to social media platforms from 13 to 16.
At a panel discussion alongside fellow comedian, Hamish Blake, and parenting author, educator, and speaker, Maggie Dent, hosted by ex-global head of entertainment at TikTok, Felicity McVay, Wippa acknowledged that while there is a place for social media in this world, it is not for young people.
Social media has delivered amazing outcomes over the years – it has given people the world over with access to global audiences, it has democratised access to education, it has fostered connection and community among people from all walks of life, but with great benefits, come great concerns.
It is also a place that causes increasing rates of anxiety, depression, self harm, suicide, and more, it is addictive, it cultivates negative culture, all of which is especially prevalent in teenagers.
(L-R): Felicity McVay, Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli, Maggie Dent, Hamish Blake
“There is a place for social media,” Wippa said. “I get it. But for our young minds, it’s not a place for them.
“Parents are so concerned about their teenagers, especially in the earlier years where they are so influenced by social media. Not just the practice of it and the habit of it, but the addictiveness as well.”
Looking at it from the prism of being a parent, Blake said his opinion of social media has changed greatly as his kids grow up.
“I’ve become much more involved in talking to other parents, looking at the environment and the world we’re bringing kids into,” he said.
“And I am one of those parents who doesn’t quite know what to do, but has that uneasy feeling about it.
“And I know one of the counter arguments is people saying it’s up to the parents to educate their kids, and I do agree that’s a huge part of it, but there’s more to it than just saying ‘hey, that’s illegal and we’ve solved it.'”
Blake said educating kids would be a lot easier if there were cultural and societal agreements about the appropriate ages to things. Using a cigarette analogy, he said it’s easier to say to kids ‘hey don’t smoke because you have to be 18’, versus ‘we’ll we’re allowed to have them in class, and a couple other kids smoke, and there’s always a bunch of cigarettes on the table’ – as they do with phones and social media.
“It would be a much harder world in which to tell your kids not to smoke if those agreements weren’t in place,” he said.
Wippa added: “The other point people are often missing too is that we don’t believe this is a silver bullet either. Like cigarettes, this is going to take time.
“So whatever the outcome for this generation is, we’ve got to think of the one after that, and make sure we’re considering protecting them as well.”
Dent said thanks to social media, young people are failing to launch.
“We’ve overprotected them, and then dumped them into the digital world… teenagers have always been moody and grumpy, and that’s normal, but now they’re looking at stuff online telling them to go and kill themselves.
“We have kids as young as 12 choosing to die by suicide because of what has happened on a social media platform where they’ve been bullied or trolled,” she stressed. “Public shaming for anyone is horrendous, but for a psychologically immature teenager, it is unbelievably dangerous.”
Dent said we need to think about when, and how, we throw kids into the digital world. We need to learn how to educate them to ensure they become safe, respectable digital citizens. And the work of the 36 Months initiative hopes to do just that.
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