Social media – is it creating psychosocial injuries for teachers and support staff?
Social media access for young people has been a major conversation point in South Australia, with Premier Peter Malinauskas on the front foot pushing for children under the age of 14 to be banned from social media, and commissioning an Independent Legal Examination “amid escalating concerns from experts, educators, and parents over the potential negative impacts of social media use on children’s mental health, wellbeing and development.” The IEU has been invited to participate in The Social Media Summit which will bring government together with young people and experts, including educators, to look at how support can best be provided.
A 276-page report has been released by the former Chief Justice of the High Court the Honourable Robert French AC outlining a legislative vehicle to ban children under the age of 14 from accessing social media.
The Children (Social Media Safety) Bill 2024 imposes a positive obligation and duty on social media platforms to prevent access to their services by an individual child within the restricted age ranges.
Leading private schools in Adelaide have had a tumultuous few weeks of headlines in The Advertiser, both in print and online, with headlines such as ‘Nude Photo Scandal’, ‘Football team misogyny scandal’, ‘… fight allegedly erupted in Adelaide’s busiest retail strip’ and ‘Senior students expelled after Intercol incident’.
Whilst these incidents are believed to be linked to students 10 years or older, the behaviour patterns in schools may be seen, heard and mimicked by younger students as it seems inevitable that they will encounter stories or footage, in newspapers, on search engines such as Google or via social media.
Media reports of this student misbehaviour and misuse of social media should also include the impact on teachers and support staff in schools. The rise of psychosocial injury to teachers and support staff have been linked to social media issues.
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) represents 1.7 million educators and they released a report in September 2023 stating that social media has helped sow “dramatic disruption” in American schools, “diverting school resources away from educating students and into increasing disciplinary services and personnel to handle the “explosion of bullying and harassment incidents” that happen on social media.”
“Teachers also find themselves acting like untrained social workers or therapists as they try to help students navigate worsening depression, anxiety, and self-harm that students describe as related to their negative experiences on social media.”
Assisting students, or worse – suffering from students’ social media abuse and bullying – is having a significant effect on teachers and educators.
Raising the age of access to social media to 14 years is a worthwhile starting point but this will require the adherence of parents and guardians to ensure this is not bypassed. Setting access age in legislation makes a criminal offence possible for those caught bypassing the requirements, but it won’t guarantee parents/guardians (or even students) won’t break the law and not get caught.
Parents have a responsibility to support schools with effective use of social media by their children.
“Each child matures differently, and some face extra challenges. But for every person, the period between ten and 14 is critical for developing the cognitive, social and emotional skills they’ll carry through the rest of their life”. Read more about this in The Conversation article: “Can a 10-year-old be responsible for a crime? Here’s what brain science tells us”.
We think it is worth your time to have a read.
If you feel that you need to discuss workplace issues regarding social media use against you, contact us on 8410 0122 or enquiries@ieusa.org.au
Sources:
Premier Peter Malinauskas, 8 September 2024, Banning social media for children
https://www.premier.sa.gov.au/media-releases/news-items/banning-social-media-for-children
https://mashable.com/article/teacher-burnout-social-media-in-the-classroom
