Ensuring the safety of our children online

There will no doubt be a range of views in our community – as there is on any issue – on the federal government’s social media ban for under-16s that takes effect this week.

There is no one solution to ensuring the safety of our children online. The internet is a mammoth entity with dangers lurking in all corners.

All too often we read tragic stories of teens bullied into taking their own lives. Predators await in the shadows, infiltrating platforms such as Roblox. Social media is rife with inappropriate or violent content. Teens see post after post about body image which harms their self-esteem. Propaganda promoting extremist ideologies is rampant.

Indeed, the mind-numbing monotony of hearing our kids repeatedly yelling “sixxx-sevennn” (IYKYK) is the least of our worries.

Will the government’s social media ban make it all go away? Of course not. But supporters argue the legislation is less a ban than a circuit-breaker.