Next month, Australia is set to implement a world-first social media ban, which will block any Australians under the age of 16 from accessing social media sites or apps.

I think for the sake of young people's mental health and focus, it's a very good idea,

Our local high school no longer allows phones during lessons - the kids hand them in and they are locked away then returned at end of lesson and they can use them in breaks.

Everyone seems to get relief from it and pupils voted for it to happen. They say the learning environment is better this way.

As you say FGT, I am interested to see how it continues.

It will be interesting to see the results. Even seven years ago, when I retired from teaching, mobile phones were a real problem in school. Bullying was awful and pastoral staff spent a lot of time dealing with the fallout. Pupils would use phones in class, their parents would message organise call them, and film staff. And that was without social media and the harm it causes.

Organise shouldn't be there!

I applaud them for trying. At least with a national ban the rules are clear, which does remove the pressure from parents trying to police their children’s phones. I think older teenagers will find it very tough though.

Yes, I shall watch this with interest. I wonder how easy it will be to implement?

I think it will be very interesting to see if this works and if it has good results but the damage has already been done for so many youngsters.

As well as paedophiles and others infiltrating sites used by young people, there is, as Grandmabatty says, bullying on social media which can be very distressing.

True about the bullying.

When we were kids we came home by 4pm and there were no mean messages to look at. Nor were there (WA) groups snickering about us after school or at weekends.

I think for some poor souls school/phones must be bluddy awful.

Don’t the tech bros in Silicone Valley ban their own kids from them? I’m sure I read that somewhere.

I wish them good luck with this as it is clearly well-motivated.
Interesting to see whether they can make it work and whether it has the desired effects.

Labradora

I wish them good luck with this as it is clearly well-motivated.
Interesting to see whether they can make it work and whether it has the desired effects.

I echo what you say.
If it can really be done, we should try it here.

I think it is a good idea and I hope it is a success

I hope it works and is adopted in other countries.

I feel that children these days do need a phone for emergencies - being picked up from school or friends' houses etc. They often travel much further than we used to. A basic phone is perfectly adequate for that and to keep them safe; they don't need social media for those purposes. And most have access to a computer for homework and research.

Having said that, it's great to be able to message my GD on WhatsApp so that she can reply when it's convenient.

I think all countries will adopt this within say a decade.
I think we will look back on allowing children access to social media in the same way as we look back on parents smoking in a car with children, sending children up chimneys! , etc