There’s something almost ironic about the fact that the future King of England, Prince William, does not allow his 12year old to have a phone, while millions of ordinary families around the world feel pressured into handing smartphones to children barely old enough to write a-e-i-o-u. I mean, if even royalty does not grant their kids that privilege, whomst are we? And it does not even stop at royalty. The world’s richest and most powerful, heck, even the masterminds behind the technology we use – the Silicon Valley engineers, the founders of Big Tech, the designers of the very digital playgrounds our children are drowning in – send their kids to schools where screens are banned and the curriculum is built around human connection.
Let that sink in for a moment. That silicon Valley elites code our dopamine drip notifications and design addictive loops our kids can’t escape, only to send their own children to no screens schools, where even laptops are banned. They treat early screen exposure like a toxin, because that is exactly what is is; a toxin. Meanwhile, the rest of us hand smartphones to 4 year olds without batting an eye.
The people who understand the technology best, keep it far away from their own children.
Australia is doing what all other nations were burying their heads in the sand over. They have been bold and courageous, and for that they deserve to be applauded. Their new law banning social media for anyone under 16 is less a political decision and more a moral one. For once, a law that actually cares for the people and not the big corporates of the world. A law that points the middle finger to capitalism. Quite simply, this is a declaration that childhood is worth fighting for. And now Malaysia is reportedly preparing to follow the same path, tightening its digital age regulations as governments finally begin to smell the coffee and admit that young minds were never designed for this. Every few decades there is usually a reset in life and culture…. Could this be the beginning of one?
It is how we have been behaving, as though handing a smartphone to a seven year old is normal. Kids these days are digital, we say, as if childhood itself has evolved to suit the market. Are kids of these days digital though, or does having them glued to their screens convenient for us adults? Is it better that way because it gives us more time to be on social media ourselves? The truth is, social media wasn’t built for children but to keep adults addicted. Also, bitter fact is that Algorithms don’t care about age but vulnerability. The younger the brain, the more profitable the vulnerability.
Ahh, algorithms. Sigh.
Because of them, children are growing up inside systems designed to manipulate their emotions and nudge their worldview before they even understand they have one. Twelve year olds are scrolling through instagram and tiktok bodies they will never look like and lifestyles no one can afford. Especially us Africans, who can afford all that lifestyle nonsense we see online? Even us parents cannot afford it for ourselves, sembuse for our kids? We are already struggling enough trying to make ends meet as it is. I truly loathe how kids are eating up content their developing brains simply cannot process.
The consequences? Rising anxiety, collapsing self esteem, eating disorders, addictive behavior, and an epidemic of loneliness in the most “connected” generation in history. Most connected? Story for the gods, i tell you.
Australia’s ban is an attempt to reverse this slow erosion of childhood. They have woken up to the fact that a society does not need its 13 year olds to be building followings and arguing with adults online. Neither do they need to be going down algorithmic rabbit holes that even grown men can barely escape. Childhood is supposed to be lived messily and with the space to grow at a human pace.
As usual, critics will always critic. It is, after all, their job. Already, some are calling the ban unrealistic. They say children will find ways around it. And maybe some will, but does that mean that we should let a whole generation go down without fighting? Laws are about values. For over a decade, the value we’ve communicated to children is that they must exist online to exist at all. Now, for the first time, a country is saying they don’t have to. That in itself is quite an iconic move.
Maybe now we can stop pretending and talk about the elephant in the room. That early social media use exposes a class divide we pretend isn’t there. Like I already mentioned, wealthy families delay smartphones and elite schools delay screens. Even the tech creators actively avoid the products they build. Meanwhile, working class children and overstretched families end up with the highest exposure to the very systems that harm them most. Justice, finally, for us children of a lesser god.
A child’s mental health should not depend on their parents’ income.
Something is definitely shifting, and parents are here for it. Bring back the old fashioned way of making friends. And when did boredom become such a bad thing? The same boredom that builds creativity? Face to face conflict builds conflict resolution skills and is way better that fighting with strangers online. Uninterrupted time builds imagination. Nature builds resilience. Kids need to read a book, like we all did growing up. Books built us! There is just something about viewing a world far away from an author’s words as opposed to.
An algorithm on the other hand, builds none of these things. All it builds is dependency, insecurity…..and kids who look connected but feel empty.
This is why the Australian ban matters. Not because it solves everything (no law ever does) but because it reminds us that protecting childhood is responsibility. And above all, that it is humanity.
If the future king of England believes his daughter deserves a life free from constant digital surveillance, if Silicon Valley billionaires believe their kids deserve offline innocence, if the very creators of the digital world shelter their families from it, then what excuse do the rest of us have?
Like Australia, it is possible to choose human childhood over corporate algorithms. The question now is whether the rest of us are brave enough to follow.
The Rest of The World Should Copy Australia’s Social Media Ban for Kids
There’s something almost ironic about the fact that the future King of England, Prince William, does not allow his 12year old to have a phone, while millions of ordinary families around the world feel pressured into handing smartphones to children barely old enough to write a-e-i-o-u. I mean, if even royalty does not grant their kids that privilege, whomst are we? And it does not even stop at royalty. The world’s richest and most powerful, heck, even the masterminds behind the technology we use – the Silicon Valley engineers, the founders of Big Tech, the designers of the very digital playgrounds our children are drowning in – send their kids to schools where screens are banned and the curriculum is built around human connection.
Let that sink in for a moment. That silicon Valley elites code our dopamine drip notifications and design addictive loops our kids can’t escape, only to send their own children to no screens schools, where even laptops are banned. They treat early screen exposure like a toxin, because that is exactly what is is; a toxin. Meanwhile, the rest of us hand smartphones to 4 year olds without batting an eye.
The people who understand the technology best, keep it far away from their own children.
Australia is doing what all other nations were burying their heads in the sand over. They have been bold and courageous, and for that they deserve to be applauded. Their new law banning social media for anyone under 16 is less a political decision and more a moral one. For once, a law that actually cares for the people and not the big corporates of the world. A law that points the middle finger to capitalism. Quite simply, this is a declaration that childhood is worth fighting for. And now Malaysia is reportedly preparing to follow the same path, tightening its digital age regulations as governments finally begin to smell the coffee and admit that young minds were never designed for this. Every few decades there is usually a reset in life and culture…. Could this be the beginning of one?
It is how we have been behaving, as though handing a smartphone to a seven year old is normal. Kids these days are digital, we say, as if childhood itself has evolved to suit the market. Are kids of these days digital though, or does having them glued to their screens convenient for us adults? Is it better that way because it gives us more time to be on social media ourselves? The truth is, social media wasn’t built for children but to keep adults addicted. Also, bitter fact is that Algorithms don’t care about age but vulnerability. The younger the brain, the more profitable the vulnerability.
Ahh, algorithms. Sigh.
Because of them, children are growing up inside systems designed to manipulate their emotions and nudge their worldview before they even understand they have one. Twelve year olds are scrolling through instagram and tiktok bodies they will never look like and lifestyles no one can afford. Especially us Africans, who can afford all that lifestyle nonsense we see online? Even us parents cannot afford it for ourselves, sembuse for our kids? We are already struggling enough trying to make ends meet as it is. I truly loathe how kids are eating up content their developing brains simply cannot process.
The consequences? Rising anxiety, collapsing self esteem, eating disorders, addictive behavior, and an epidemic of loneliness in the most “connected” generation in history. Most connected? Story for the gods, i tell you.
Australia’s ban is an attempt to reverse this slow erosion of childhood. They have woken up to the fact that a society does not need its 13 year olds to be building followings and arguing with adults online. Neither do they need to be going down algorithmic rabbit holes that even grown men can barely escape. Childhood is supposed to be lived messily and with the space to grow at a human pace.
As usual, critics will always critic. It is, after all, their job. Already, some are calling the ban unrealistic. They say children will find ways around it. And maybe some will, but does that mean that we should let a whole generation go down without fighting? Laws are about values. For over a decade, the value we’ve communicated to children is that they must exist online to exist at all. Now, for the first time, a country is saying they don’t have to. That in itself is quite an iconic move.
Maybe now we can stop pretending and talk about the elephant in the room. That early social media use exposes a class divide we pretend isn’t there. Like I already mentioned, wealthy families delay smartphones and elite schools delay screens. Even the tech creators actively avoid the products they build. Meanwhile, working class children and overstretched families end up with the highest exposure to the very systems that harm them most. Justice, finally, for us children of a lesser god.
A child’s mental health should not depend on their parents’ income.
Something is definitely shifting, and parents are here for it. Bring back the old fashioned way of making friends. And when did boredom become such a bad thing? The same boredom that builds creativity? Face to face conflict builds conflict resolution skills and is way better that fighting with strangers online. Uninterrupted time builds imagination. Nature builds resilience. Kids need to read a book, like we all did growing up. Books built us! There is just something about viewing a world far away from an author’s words as opposed to.
An algorithm on the other hand, builds none of these things. All it builds is dependency, insecurity…..and kids who look connected but feel empty.
This is why the Australian ban matters. Not because it solves everything (no law ever does) but because it reminds us that protecting childhood is responsibility. And above all, that it is humanity.
If the future king of England believes his daughter deserves a life free from constant digital surveillance, if Silicon Valley billionaires believe their kids deserve offline innocence, if the very creators of the digital world shelter their families from it, then what excuse do the rest of us have?
Like Australia, it is possible to choose human childhood over corporate algorithms. The question now is whether the rest of us are brave enough to follow.
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