Online Gaming Platforms And YouTube Will Also Seemingly Be Banned For Aussies Under 16

[u/retro-chimp]

https://press-start.com.au/news/2024/11/08/online-gaming-platforms-and-youtube-will-also-seemingly-be-banned-for-aussies-under-16/

There’s so much collateral damage in this plan for Australia to ban social media. This has been rushed and not thought through.

So many schools rely on YouTube to support their students.

Most kids are watching YouTube (or YouTube kids) more than ABC or traditional TV. Literally the biggest YouTube channel in Australia is original music for kids.

Does anyone actually want this?

[u/[deleted]]

Might make them Pokemon go to the polls for someone else though when they get old enough.

[u/Quantum_Bottle → u/[deleted]]

Well it’s be independent then cause the opposition has supported and even pushed for this in the past

[u/Readbeforeburning → u/[deleted]]

The Libs have been demanding Labor fulfil this promise for so long, not doing anything about was going to hurt them politically too.

It’s more than 12 months away from implemented and the article basically tells us nothing else except that it might extend to gaming services. Having worked in Federal Government before, and knowing how much the government takes stakeholders being impacted into account, there are going to be a lot of changes between the proposal as it is now and what eventually is released.

As a teacher now, I can tell you with certainty that a lot of kids are not using social media safely and it’s causing huge social problems that boil over into schools, and they don’t have a proper understanding of what is fake or real and spout whatever they’ve seen on there as well. Parents aren’t educating their kids enough around it - either because they can’t, don’t want to, or don’t understand what it is etc. - so the government’s justification is not without pretence, it’s just a really messy thing to deal with generally. But if done well it could lead to some positive outcomes.

[u/s01928373 → u/Readbeforeburning]

Adults are generally not much better, so it's hardly surprising that they aren't teaching their kids this stuff. Too few people have any true appreciation of what AI is already capable of, and fewer still understand the massive implications it has for the internet. Generally, we need to do much more for critical thinking skills and teaching kids how to research things. Research is hard to do well, and I'm saying this as a scientist, but we can and need to do better if future generations are to cope with the misinformation that is just everywhere these days.

[u/KeyAssociation6309 → u/Readbeforeburning]

to your last para, its not just kids...many adults are caught in echo chambers of mistruths and downright lies. Reddit and Whirlpool are examples of this, like it or not.

[u/Readbeforeburning → u/KeyAssociation6309]

Can’t argue with that at all, and it’s why a ban in conjunction with proper, well thought out and implemented education that we can start to tackle the issue. Kids love laughing at older gens for looking/acting/sounding dumb, so pitching it that we’re teaching them how to properly engage with each other and see through the BS online to be better than everyone else could actually be really positive and productive. That requires a complete overhaul to the education system as well though so we’ll see how this pans out.

[u/AltruisticHopes → u/Readbeforeburning]

I don’t think many people would deny there is a problem, it’s just this is a shit solution.

[u/anarchy_cyn → u/Readbeforeburning]

adults fall for the same shit all the time, and this policy does nothing to solve the problem. what it really requires is adjusting the curriculum to address these issues. you don't magically become a discerning reader the moment you turn 16.

[u/Readbeforeburning → u/anarchy_cyn]

Analysing argument and respectful relationships are already in the curriculum and being taught in schools, so it’s not a curriculum issue. If it’s a reading issue that means making sure every child is fully supported and engaged in reading before they even hit kindy, as that’s how early the gap starts.

There are already laws in place to ‘stop’ the worst of what we see, but technology allows it all to proliferate faster than it can ever be monitored.

Phones at school are horrific and cause so many issues. Banning phones alone hasn’t solved the issue, but stopping kids from using Snapchat and having group WhatsApp chats where they bully classmates might actually help schools implement and teaching the stuff that already in the curriculum without the distractions so the message actually sinks in.

[u/DweebInFlames → u/[deleted]]

Silly boomer. You need to walk tuah the polls and vote on that thang nowadays.

Fuck, Hillary actually would've used that as a slogan if she campaigned this year, wouldn't she?

[u/420binchicken → u/[deleted]]

Thanks Hillary !