Social media is “deprogramming” the childhoods of Australians, says a NSW MP as a petition to raise the age of social media use is presented to the state parliament.
Opposition Health Minister Kellie Sloane and NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman have called on the state government to work with the federal government to raise the minimum age of social media.
On Wednesday evening founders of the “36 months” petition, Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli and Rob Galluzzo met with NSW Legislative Assembly Speaker Greg Piper, Mr Speakman and Ms Sloane to present their petition to the NSW parliament.
The petition has gained 114,000 signatures supporting the change of the minimum age of social media use from 13 to 16.
Radio presenter ‘Wippa’ and film production company founder Mr Galluzzo founded the petition to give Australian children an extra “36 months” to develop healthy and secure identities before they are exposed to social media.
Mr Speakman said he was calling on NSW government to recognises the correlation between the declining mental health of children and increased social media use.
“This campaign comes from the common sense that young teenagers are better off with three more years to mature and to develop their online identities … so that they’re very quick to handle challenges social media when they eventually do sign up,” he said.
“Our kids deserve the best start in life, and by supporting this campaign, we can help create a healthier, happier future for the next generation.”
Seventy other guests were also attended the public hearing debate, including Butterfly foundation chief executive officer Dr Jim Hungerford, School principals from prestigious NSW schools, Scots College and Cranbrooke, as well as representatives from Lego and Telstra.