Australian teen social media ban brings holiday headspace woes

By Byron Kaye and Cordelia Hsu

SYDNEY, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Sydney teenager Ayris Tolson believes the start of his first summer holiday under Australia’s youth social media ban will be relatively easy as he gets to spend time with his family, but he fears being left alone and isolated as the weeks go by.

Starting from December 10, Australia will, for the first time in the world, impose a social media ban on people under the age of 16, blocking their access to TikTok, Alphabet’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram.

More than a million children under 16 will lose their accounts and, nine days later, take a break from the long holidays from December to January, when most of Australia is closed until February.

“You are isolated for about six weeks during school holidays,” Tolson, 15, told Reuters. “I’ll probably feel more connected to social media as we go on. ‌It’s not such a good time.”

Mental health experts say opening schools just before the longest school holiday of the year could worsen the shock for young people who rely on technology for socialization and don’t have the basic routines or institutional supports of school.

Experts say the cold turkey effect of no school and no socializing will be particularly pronounced for children in remote areas or minority groups such as immigrants and LGBTQI+ individuals who are more likely to turn to the internet to connect with like-minded people.

There is no quantitative research showing how many Australians under 16 use social media to access mental health services, but a 2024 survey by youth service ReachOut.com found 72% of 16-25 year olds used social media to seek mental health advice and almost half used it to find professional help.

“If you were in school there would be a lot of talk and chatter around it – it’s a shared experience,” said Nicola Palfrey, head of clinical leadership at headspace, a government-funded youth mental health service.

“If you have more time on your hands and you’re feeling a little bit confused, feeling quite anxious, worried or upset, that’s the kind of situation where being alone with your thoughts is not ideal. These people start to worry.”

The Australian government has argued that the ban, which threatens the platforms with fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$33 million), is beneficial to young people’s mental health as it will protect them from bullying, harmful content and addictive algorithms.

At a conference this month, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said some young people in marginalized groups “feel more at home online than in the real world” and are required to visit various exempt online areas, including those managed by headspace.

He said the government would collect data on the ban’s “benefits as well as unintended consequences” for two years after the ban.

YOUTH SERVICES READY FOR INCREASE OF CASES

The timing, which is a by-product of the legislation already being passed through parliament, is encouraging changes in youth services that use social media to reach young people.

The Child Helpline, a telephone and online service, often experiences a lull during the summer months. Tony FitzGerald, head of virtual services, said it had trained 16 additional consultants this year, a 10% increase, to counter a possible influx of referrals due to the social media ban.

School-related stress usually subsides during the holidays, but “with young people potentially being cut off from the ability to communicate with each other on these platforms, this can actually increase anxiety,” he said.

“We will ensure that we have adequate consulting resources to support this increase.”

Youth Affairs Council Victoria’s head of policy Lauren Frost said she had received so many questions from youth organizations about how to operate without social media that she was planning a new national body to discuss reaching young people offline. But even offline options will be inadequate during the holidays.

“Young people will have less interaction with teachers, support staff or youth workers, so they will not be able to play the role of supporting young people during this transition period,” Frost said.

“They feel a lot of fear and anxiety.”

Daniela Vecchio, head of mental health and addiction services at Perth’s Fiona Stanley Hospital, a clinic that treats gaming and social media addiction, said she would be monitoring the increase in presentations over the holidays.

Annie Wang, 14, said she uses a variety of social media apps but isn’t too worried about the ban because she does most of her communication through Discord, which is exempt since messaging is its primary purpose.

For those who don’t have Discord, he said: “They’re basically away from everyone and will probably be around all school holidays, which is not good.”

($1 = 1.5053 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Byron Kaye and Cordelia Hsu, additional reporting by Stefica Bikesh; Editing by Michael Perry)