This is what children under 16 see when they open Instagram in Australia: “Due to laws in Australia, people under 16 can no longer use social media.” A similar message could potentially one day pop up on some screens in Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe floated the idea of a social media ban for children 16 years old and younger after question period at the provincial legislature on Monday.
He said he wants to hear what Saskatchewan people think of the idea and how it could work.
“It is time for us to have a conversation about social media in particular, social media use in our youth, in our students,” Moe said, noting Prime Minister Mark Carney has also indicated he wants to discuss options.
Tamara Hintz, a childhood psychiatrist in Saskatoon, said she understands the growing concerns with excessive social media use.
“There’s really not a day that goes by in my practice where social media and cell phones doesn’t come up in appointments with kids and teenagers,” she said.
Hintz said she’s in favour of a ban on social media for children under 16. However, a conversation around bans has to weigh in the nuances associated with social media, she said.
In Hintz’s experience, she said, she’s seen some positive impact — notably in children from marginalized communities.
“There’s a real ability to create some online community and support if that doesn’t exist in real human, face-to-face interactions.”
Hintz said the social media discourse also sometimes acts as a smokescreen in identifying actual problems.
“We do have a mental health crisis in our children today, and social media is sort of an easy boogeyman to pin all of the blame and all of our woes on.”
Students who spoke with CBC outside Campbell Collegiate in Regina unanimously said social media has serious downsides, including triggering low self-esteem and providing a platform for bullying.
But they also said it expands their access to business opportunities, friendships and fundraising tools.
Last year, Australia banned children under 16 from social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat.
While experts say analysis of impact in Australia will take time, governments in more than three dozen countries are discussing, considering or implementing social media age minimums and other online safety measures.
Setting an “age of majority” for social media use “merits an open and considered debate,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said during a visit to Tokyo in early March.
Canada’s online harms legislation “is lagging, so there’s a need to — at minimum — catch up,” he said. Carney added that while he has heard arguments on both sides, he has not yet decided whether Canada should adopt age-restricted social media rules.
Moe says it would be more effective for Ottawa to impose changes nationally instead of Saskatchewan going alone.
“We were, I think, happy to see that the prime minister was open to that conversation,” he said.
Social media age restrictions are on the agenda at the Liberals’ national convention next month.
Blue Sky48:52Should kids under 16 be banned from social media?
Studies have shown that social media is having a negative affect on youth and now our provincial government is saying – let’s talk about it! Today on Blue Sky we heard from teens, parents Cherish Francis and Danielle Wakely, Tamara Hinz, child psychiatrist, Katia Hildebrandt, education professor, and Kevin Waugh, a Sask MP who is part of a parliamentary committee looking at the issue of online harm and children.
Katia Hildebrandt, instructor in the faculty of education at the University of Regina, says a ban until 16 takes away opportunities to digital literacy.
“That’s kind of like throwing the kid into the deep end of the pool. There’s no scaffolding. We need to build the capacity for kids to understand how to make better choices online,” Hildebrandt said.
Hildebrandt said new rules should be more focused to ask for accountability.
“There’s space for legislation that goes after those tech companies.”
The other way to keep children safe, she said, is to promote digital media literacy — not only for kids, but also for parents.
Premier Scott Moe wants to open up conversation with Saskatchewan families about banning social media for children 16 and under. Experts and youth weigh in on the idea and its possible outcomes.
Saskatoon’s Cherish Francis, parent of a 19-year-old and a nine-year-old, said she’s rooting for legislation banning social media to come into effect sooner. She said she understands parents’ responsibility in regulating social media use, but would take any help she can get from the province to do so.
“If we had an extra layer of support from the provincial government banning kids from under the age of 16 to not be online, I think that’s an extra safety guard for us.”
Francis said her 19-year-old daughter was bullied on social media.
“I saw a group chat when she was in high school and there was a lot of bullying. I think that if she didn’t have that, probably right now, she would be a lot stronger of an individual,” Francis said.
Estevan parent Danielle Wakely said she doesn’t believe the province needs to step in. She said screen time regulation and education has worked well for her 11-year-old daughter.
“We have to protect our kids, but that’s a parents job to protect our kids. Like the government can try, but they’re not in the house with my kid, right? I’m in the house with my child.”
