So today is the day the Australians lead the world with a social media ban for people under 16. 

Good luck with that. The kids who still want to be online will get around it. Because, you know, kids and computers. 

They can’t speak the Queen’s English, but they sure can speak computer. 

They’ll VPN and forge and weasel their way through the same way we all got our hands on booze when we were underage. 

And the kids who’ll actively skirt the law are either the ones who believe social media benefits their life in society, or they’re hoping one day that they’ll get some positive self-affirmation even though more often than not they’re bullied, and of course, the bullies themselves, because bullying is fun for them. 

They’re not going to pay attention to some words in black and white written by some old parliamentarians in a grand hall wearing their fancy clothes.

And the kids aren’t going to be thankful. You’ve taken away their town hall, their community centre, their pub.  

They’re going to be resentful. And I reckon there’s a lot of parents who think social media has rotted their kids' brains. Why? Well, they’ve gone socialist haven’t they?

So, it’s virtue signalling and we all know how we feel about virtue signalling, even if the virtue is a good one. 

And speaking of which, I found the whole argy bargy between the B416 crew and the Prime Minister to be generally distasteful. It seemed like the parties were more concerned about who got the credit for the posturing rather than helping the kids themselves. 

But the message is out there and it’s a good one. Keep your kid's social media usage as low as possible. You’re the parent. Parent. 

So, my boys are in their 20s and they grew up with all of this. 

I remember asking them if they’d been cyber bullied on social media. Their reply was not really. If you’re being hassled, you block the idiots. And turn the phone off. 

I was so proud. 

So today is the day the Australians lead the world with a social media ban for people under 16.&nbsp;
Good luck with that. The kids who still want to be online will get around it. Because, you know, kids and computers.&nbsp;
They can’t speak the Queen’s English, but they sure can speak computer.&nbsp;
They’ll VPN and forge and weasel their way through the same way we all got our hands on booze when we were underage.&nbsp;
And the kids who’ll actively skirt the law are either the ones who believe social media benefits their life in society, or they’re hoping one day that they’ll get some positive self-affirmation even though more often than not they’re bullied, and of course, the bullies themselves, because bullying is fun for them.&nbsp;
They’re not going to pay attention to some words in black and white written by some old parliamentarians in a grand hall wearing their fancy clothes.
And the kids aren’t going to be thankful. You’ve taken away their town hall, their community centre, their pub. &nbsp;
They’re going to be resentful. And I reckon there’s a lot of parents who think social media has rotted their kids' brains. Why? Well, they’ve gone socialist haven’t they?
So, it’s virtue signalling and we all know how we feel about virtue signalling, even if the virtue is a good one.&nbsp;
And speaking of which, I found the whole argy bargy between the B416 crew and the Prime Minister to be generally distasteful. It seemed like the parties were more concerned about who got the credit for the posturing rather than helping the kids themselves.&nbsp;
But the message is out there and it’s a good one. Keep your kid's social media usage as low as possible. You’re the parent. Parent.&nbsp;
So, my boys are in their 20s and they grew up with all of this.&nbsp;
I remember asking them if they’d been cyber bullied on social media. Their reply was not really. If you’re being hassled, you block the idiots. And turn the phone off.&nbsp;
I was so proud.&nbsp;

A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.

A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

Andrew Dickens: Good luck with the social media ban Australia

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/dd76343a-1b42-4acf-a723-b3ae011bdb30/transcript

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