A group of parents in regional Victoria has come together to present a united front in delaying their children’s exposure to mobile phone use. They have made a phone pledge; an agreement not to give their kids smart phones until they are sixteen. Their goal is to shield children from the dangers of social media, but some experts are sceptical of the idea.
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00:00Bouncing on the trampoline with friends, and playing with a football are the kinds of experiences
00:09these mums want their kids to remember.
00:12I would like my children to have a childhood for as long as they possibly can.
00:15The statistics for mental health issues in teenagers and kids are pretty concerning to
00:20me.
00:21Emma and Kate are just two of hundreds of parents in the Murray River towns of Echucamoama
00:26pledging to keep smartphones out of their children's hands for as long as possible.
00:31Stephanie Chalice came up with the idea to empower parents to take collective action
00:36against tech giants.
00:37We're saying 16 at a minimum.
00:40All the research that's come out very, very recently has said that it's not good for kids'
00:45brains before 16.
00:47The mum of two started the movement because she realised it would be too hard to tackle
00:52the issue alone.
00:53There are growing calls around Australia on both sides of politics for tighter restrictions
00:58around children using social media.
01:01But some mental health experts say teenagers need to be part of the conversation.
01:06What the kids are telling us is don't ban us, teach us.
01:09Don't take it away from us because maybe you don't know how to use it or you're scared
01:14of what is going to happen when I use it.
01:16Teach me how to use it properly.
01:17You can't really communicate with your friends so you'd have to call them at a telephone
01:22box or something because you won't be able to message them on Snapchat.
01:25I reckon it's about a 50-50, I'd say.
01:28Bad stuff can be really bad but when it's good, yeah, it's nice.
01:32The federal government has promised to introduce legislated social media age limits, but these
01:37parents don't want to wait.