Australia - The Land Down Under

There are some pretty convincing studies that show 'social media' is not good for one's mental health, and that this is more true with people who don't have fully developed brains (kids).

At the same time, if you use the most generic definitions, this site would be 'social media'.

That said, kids are going to be kids. I think parents should be parents. Technology isn't going to make kids not be kids. Education might help parents be parents.
 


Condobloke said:
These platforms will not allow anyone under 16 to create or maintain an account.
Click to expand...
They have little control now, kids are not stupid, they don't use their own birthdate to log in ,they know how to set up and use VPN's , I just cannot see age restrictions working, policing may reduce harmful content but will never stop it,
 
the whole "banning access to whatever platform" idea just strikes me as odd to begin with - like, how do they plan to enforce that, exactly? it'd be trivial to bypass or avoid just about control mechanism, even IP blocking is easily circumvented with a vpn. it's just a bad idea. if you really want to control access to something, you block it at the source.
 
The thought has crossed my mind.....that someone said somewhere, that internet and the right to access it is a basic human right.
Whether that was someone just bleating/complaining about a specific situation, I cannot remember.

But, if it is actually written into law at some level, then that will bring the 'ban' unstuck, eventually. An actual law of that nature will apply to 'people', regardless of age.

Then again, I may be just be dreaming about the 'existence' of such a 'law'/'human right'
 
It's turning into summer for you Down Under folks.

It won't even reach 10° today. It's currently 3° F (-16° C). The windchill makes it feel like it's -19" F (-28.3° C).

I figured I'd share that so that you can appreciate it more. Those are the temps in the village. It's colder at my elevation and the wind speeds are higher.

I like the cold (though this is nearing 'too cold'), but I'm aware that most people don't like the cold.

It seemed like a fun idea to help you appreciate the heat.

At the same time...

Condobloke said:
www.bbc.com

'We deserve to have a say' - Australian teens on the social media ban

The BBC spoke to under-16s in Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra who will be banned from social media from December 10.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
Click to expand...

Yeah... No... They're kids. They don't really deserve a 'say'. If they deserved a say in matters, they'd say they can drive however they want, stay in bed all day, not go to school, eat whatever they wanted, throw parties with drugs and alcohol, etc...

They don't even have fully developed brains. In fact, they'll need to be in the mid-20s (or older) to have a fully developed brain.

That's a part of being a minor. When you're a minor, you don't get a 'say' in things. Sure, you can voice your opinions on the matter, but that's not really how 'say' is being used here. When you reach the age of majority is when you get a say in things.

All that said...

This really is a touchy subject. From the tech standpoint, I'm not sure it's their job to try vetting people. If a parent doesn't want their child on social media, that parent should be a parent and stop them from going on social media.

From a more objective viewpoint, and I've mentioned this before, there are a number of increasing studies that show harm in social media, and this harm is amplified among young people.

Finally, I think, it seems like this is just going to be futile. Kids are going to be kids. If you shoo them away from the park, they'll congregate under the bridge. When you go down to shoo them out from under the bridge, they'll just go hang out at the cafe.

When my kids were young, they had access to computers and the internet. However, they only had access in the living room. It wasn't until they built up trust that they were allowed to have a networked device in their bedrooms. Even then, I regularly checked in on them. It was my job to keep them safe.

I'm curious to see how this ends up.
 
What a mess.

No simple answer

A problem created by adults.

Some will see it as a 'us vs them' situation. Kids do not have sufficiently developed mindset to cope with that situation.

A more soul destroying mess could not have been planned.
 
Condobloke said:
No simple answer
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's not going to be easy, and the results will be important.

There's something known as the 'slippery slope fallacy'. An example of that would be in the fight for gay marriage. The slippery slope fallacy would be the morons saying, "Next they'll want to marry turtles!"

However, I don't think that it's a slippery slope to imagine that, if this proves effective, people will clamor for other restrictions later on down the line.

Even my snarky quip isn't 'simple'. Yeah, it's easy to say something like, "Parent your children!" It's less easy for many people to do that.

Some 65% to 70% (in the US) of all adults will have children at some point in their lives.

Less than 5,000 Americans are working in the field with a job known as a 'historian'.

We teach all sorts of history, which is something I appreciate and value. But, my orders of magnitude, far more people will have children. Yet, we don't have mandatory parenting classes. (There are parenting classes, but those are not well-attended and tend to be attended by people who would already have been better parents than many others.)

I could go on...

In the US, every student will study a musical instrument. Yet, 0.03% to 0.05% will become professional musicians.
 
This, received from Reddit this morning.

We’re writing to let you know that starting 10 December 2025, Australian law will require that redditors in Australia must be 16 or older to create and use Reddit accounts.
Users confirmed to be under 16 will have their accounts suspended under the new Australian minimum age law. While we disagree with the Government's assessment of Reddit as being within the scope of the law, we need to take steps to comply. This means anyone in Australia with a Reddit account confirmed to be under 16 will be blocked from accessing their account or creating a new one. Note that as an open platform, Reddit is still available to browse without an account.
If you have questions, please visit Reddit Help. To request a copy of your Reddit account data, you can follow the instructions on this help center article or email [email protected] from the email address you used to verify your Reddit account. You can also learn more about Australia’s new social media minimum age ban here.
Thank you
- Reddit
 
I used to be married to a control freak.

The control being exerted over under 16 year olds and many and various social media apps etc, reminds me of that experience.

KGIII said:
However, I don't think that it's a slippery slope to imagine that, if this proves effective, people will clamor for other restrictions later on down the line.
Click to expand...
It will also mean that the instigator of this legislation will enact more of the same style of restrictions. (give them an inch and they will take a mile)
 
Condobloke said:
I used to be married to a control freak.
Click to expand...

Indeed. There's a huge difference between a good parent and a control freak.

Condobloke said:
It will also mean that the instigator of this legislation will enact more of the same style of restrictions. (give them an inch and they will take a mile)
Click to expand...

I intentionally used the word 'people' to avoid the political angle. At some point, it was almost certainly a group of people (unelected people) who pressed for this type of stuff. Those are the people I refer to.

While difficult, we gotta skip the politics of this.

In a world increasingly full of "have's" and "have not's", as divisive as has ever been, which class of people are they next going to 'protect' by shutting them off from parts of the internet?

I will say that 'at least it's 16 and not 18'. With proper guidance and supervision, a mature 16-year-old can likely handle the ills of social media when used sparingly and not as if it's the center of their life.

The following is a VERY WELL CITED article about the effects of social media on the human brain:

10 Scary Ways Social Media is Changing Your Brain | Amen Clinics

Anxiety and depression are best known for causing mental distress. But these common psychiatric conditions are also associated with a host of physical symptoms.
www.amenclinics.com www.amenclinics.com

Citations are important in this sort of matter. Never take a journalist/pundit at face value. Don't be afraid to check citations and to verify that assertions are either cited or are already generally accepted by people in the field. Even if the citations look daunting (as they can be for some people), there's usually an abstract.

Digression follows, albeit in a bit of a rant:

If a paper isn't available, there's 'Sci-Hub'. I will not link to it, as journals are for-profit (at least the big ones usually are) and may have a copyright on the journal. (This is something being fought in the academic community.) It'll take you five minutes to learn how to use Sci-Hub, and you'll find access to a great deal of the papers.

As someone who has published in multiple journals and given the funding sources for many of these journals, it is my opinion that they should be free. The journals themselves do very little. They're not the ones doing the peer reviews. They share the papers with experts, and they do the peer review. (I used to do some peer reviews, but I feel that I've upheld my obligations and no longer do anything of the sort.) The established journals have reached the point where they're more of a barrier than they are enabling the spread of scientific knowledge.
 
KGIII said:

10 Scary Ways Social Media is Changing Your Brain | Amen Clinics Amen Clinics​

Just as with substance addictions, users develop a tolerance to the dopamine surges that social media triggers.
www.amenclinics.com
www.amenclinics.com
Click to expand...
Good article.
 
KGIII said:
It won't even reach 10° today. It's currently 3° F (-16° C). The windchill makes it feel like it's -19" F (-28.3° C).

I figured I'd share that so that you can appreciate it more. Those are the temps in the village. It's colder at my elevation and the wind speeds are higher.
Click to expand...

it's about 50° warmer out on the other side of the country but we're expecting floods of biblical proportions and high wind the next 2 days... sure hope my power doesnt go out tonight!

yeah come december 10th it'll be interesting to see how they try (and fail) to enact what amounts to censorship.
 
KGIII said:

10 Scary Ways Social Media is Changing Your Brain | Amen Clinics

Anxiety and depression are best known for causing mental distress. But these common psychiatric conditions are also associated with a host of physical symptoms.
www.amenclinics.com www.amenclinics.com
Click to expand...
that was an excellent read, and would definitely support what i have noticed in recent years, goldfish memory, the I want it and want it now attitude and the plethora of neurological illness we now see[ many of which were unknown in our youth]
 

Opal mining to continue on land cut out from new Qld national park, formerly Vergemont Station​

Thu 4 Dec

Vergemont Station is around the same size as the ACT (Australian Capital Territory. Canberra is the capital and it is home to the Federal parliament of Australia .. Its size?... The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) covers an area of approximately 2,358 square kilometers, making it the smallest of Australia's six states and two territories. It is located in southeastern Australia and is entirely surrounded by New South Wales

www.abc.net.au

Outback opal miners allowed to operate as surrounding land becomes national park

The Queensland government's purchase of Vergemont Station last year led to months of uncertainty for miners with tenures inside the former cattle station, which is larger than the Australian Capital Territory.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au
1765261562981.png

1765261592561.png

This boulder opal found on Vergemont is valued at $300,000. (ABC Western Qld: Hannah Walsh)
 
Condobloke said:

Opal mining to continue on land cut out from new Qld national park, formerly Vergemont Station​



View attachment 29142
This boulder opal found on Vergemont is valued at $300,000. (ABC Western Qld: Hannah Walsh)
Click to expand...

that's some pretty rock!
 
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