Health
GREEN
Tech expert warns kids shouldn’t
have a phone till they are 14
A person that used to work for Facebook’s parent company Meta has issued
a dire warning, saying the tech giant knows its algorithms are damaging
the health of young kids and teens
Clare Armstrong
5 min read March 26, 2024 - 7:00PM Kids News
READING LEVEL: GREEN
Aussie kids shouldn’t be allowed to have a smartphone until they turn 14
due to the very real health risks of social media, a tech expert has
warned.
Research by Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, has
shown kids are at risk of mental and physical health problems when they
are allowed to use platforms like Instagram and Facebook as much or as
often as they like.
Whistleblower and former Meta worker Frances Haugen said she was
“really concerned about kids” being affected by harmful algorithms and
notifications.
Ms Haugen said Australia had failed to keep up with countries like the US
in fighting the damaging health effects of social media and smartphone
use in kids.
Some of the biggest health problems kids were facing included sleep
deprivation, addiction, anxiety and poor mental health.
Ms Haugen said there was a growing movement in the US called “wait for
eight,” where young children were encouraged to make a pledge that
they would wait until they reached Grade 8, or 14 years old, before
getting a phone.
This approach was helping to prevent against peer pressure and meant
parents didn’t feel bad about saying no to their kids having a phone at a
younger age, Ms Haugen said.
Ms Haugen said Australia had been really good at addressing many
aspects of online safety for kids but that it needed to focus on social
harms caused by smartphone use.
“Not all kids will get contacted by a predator, but almost all kids will
struggle with sleep deprivation, almost all kids will struggle with how
compulsive it is … or deal with anxiety, because they’re overstimulated,”
she said.
Ms Haugen said Meta did not mean to cause harm to kids on purpose, but
its algorithms didn’t consider the full impact of pushing a young person
to view content that could fuel eating disorders, anxiety or depression.
She said Facebook was aware sending kids notifications during the school
day led to them being distracted, anxious and not being able to focus on
school work.
Documents written by Meta have shown the company has known about
these harms for some time. One document talked about “problematic
Facebook use,” and explained smartphone notifications were leading to
difficulty paying attention and hyperactivity among teens. It also
explained that notifications “reduced productivity and wellbeing”.
Psychologist and digital wellbeing expert Jocelyn Brewer said she would
“love” the community to shift toward waiting until a child was in high
school before they got a phone.
But she said students should learn the social and emotional skills needed
for participating in online spaces from an earlier age.
“This has to start at 7, 8 and 9-years-old,” she said.
“Everything we learn takes practice.”
Ms Brewer said kids should be taught these skills under parent and
teacher supervision. They should also be taught about how social media
use affects the brain. Teaching in this way, instead of banning kids from
using the tech, helped kids make better choices online.
“If you say to a teen, ‘this is banned,’ it makes it something they want,”
she said.
“Rather than get them off-side, we can explain to kids time is a non-
renewable resource … are you okay with paying these platforms with it?
“That gives kids autonomy to make better choices.”
In January, Meta unveiled new protections to give teens “more age-
appropriate experiences” on its apps.
The company announced it would also be automatically placing teens
into the “most restrictive content control settings” on Instagram and
Facebook, which would reduce their exposure to sensitive content.
Meta said it had also quadrupled its safety and security staff to more than
40,000 since 2016 and had been blocking “millions of fake accounts from
being created every day”.
If you are concerned by anything raised in this article, you can call
the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.
POLL
GLOSSARY
whistleblower: someone that raises the alarm about something concerning or
dangerous in an organisation
algorithms: a set of command that must be followed by a computer program in
a problem-solving operation or calculation
sleep deprivation: not getting enough sleep, which causes health problems
including lack of concentration and alertness
addiction: when you have a strong urge or need to do something even if you
know it is doing you harm
compulsive: resulting from an irresistible urge
problematic: causing problems
overstimulated: when your sense become overloaded with information and
you find it difficult to calm down
productivity: ability to get work done
non-renewable: something you can’t get back
autonomy: independence
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QUICK QUIZ
1. What are some of the health impacts caused by using a smartphone
and social media?
2. When does psychologist Jocelyn Brewer believe kids should start
learning skills to help them navigate online spaces?
3. What is the wait for eight movement?
4. How are notifications harming kids?
5. What is “problematic Facebook use”?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Wait until eight
As a young person that may or may not already own a smartphone or
would like to own one, can you understand what these experts are
warning you about?
The main arguments as to why they can be harmful to young people are
listed below – write a statement next to each of these explaining how you
could prepare and limit yourself when you own a smartphone.
Online predators could attempt to contact you:
Addicted to the device leading to over stimulations and sleep deprivation:
See inappropriate content:
Misleading images leading to poor body image:
Increase in anxiety and depression:
Constant notifications distracting you from school and other tasks:
Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Digital
Technologies, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
What controls could you and your parents negotiate to ensure that you
are not on the smartphone too much or too long to lead to some of the
social harms outlined above?
Write a contract of appropriate smartphone use for a person your age.
Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Digital
Technologies, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
Read this!
A headline on an article – or a title on your text – should capture the
attention of the audience, telling them to read this now. So choosing the
perfect words for a headline or title is very important.
Create three new headlines for the events that took place in this article.
Remember, what you write and how you write it will set the pace for the
whole text, so make sure it matches.
Read out your headlines to a partner and discuss what the article will be
about based on the headline you created. Discuss the tone and mood you
set in just your few, short words. Does it do the article justice? Will it
capture the audience’s attention the way you hoped? Would you want to
read more?
Consider how a headline or title is similar to using short, sharp sentences
throughout your text. They can be just as important as complex ones. Go
through the last text you wrote and highlight any short, sharp sentences
that capture the audience.
