Learning & Wellbeing @  ASPS

Year 6 Writing

For their last piece of writing in Year 6, the students were asked to consider the recent media ban. Some of their thoughts are included below:

Wake Up an Focus on the Bigger Problems

By Jasmine 6A

Before all of this news about the social ban, us children and teens were collaborating with new people, being inspired by older people, being given support on what to do with school tests or family issues, just imagine all that being pushed away, being forced to deal with these problems on their own. By this ban, the message the government is trying to send is that young children should suck it up, and deal with their problems by themselves. Though we both know children can't do that. You might be thinking ‘ What if they try talking to their parents about this?’ well if it was only that simple, we wouldn't be having this discussion at all. Family does not only mean the most trusted people you can have, they could also be a part of their children's problem, and the only way they can talk it out to someone is a friend who understands the pain. Haven't you ever felt like you needed a person to understand what you have been going through? Someone you can tell the story to without them doubting every word? Now, picture how those young children might be feeling. At such a young age with no experience at all, would it be dreadful for them to try to focus on school, try to impress their parents, and suffer at the same time? What a shame.

Lets think of this from another perspective, the prime minister might not seem to be as caring as he might have pictured himself to be. Before this ban took place, roughly around 50% of Australia had been dissatisfied, and upset with how everything had been rolling with Anthony Albanese’s rules. According to the Australian Government, ever since late 2021 up to now, our prime minister has created some cost of living problems that have affected more than half of australian’s lives. This includes high grocery prices, rising rents, and housing shortages. Now just by looking at this, Anthony Albanese has been trying to stop this hate by building the bigger picture of himself. Though this ban has upset many children and teenagers, it has intrigued the parents to encourage this ban which sets a bad influence on what parents should teach their children. This as well interrupts the parents and children connections massively. Could you really tell me with a straight face that this ban doesn't only affect children? As well, breaks families?

To sum this up, I think it is all better if we leave the children alone, and stop this ban from affecting children. If you think this ban is helping children, it is only making bigger damages to what they already had. These children need support, a hand, someone they can tell a story to, someone who will be on their side no matter how big or small the problem is. Having this ban would only push away the friends, support, and love they have gained. Don't always assume things from the first look you see, a person looking at a phone isn't addicted or just wasting their time, their being inspired from videos to their interest, texting friends who they support. So when you look and judge a child, maybe look again. These children are just children, they need love and attention growing up, if you think otherwise maybe you don't have a good perspective of a wealthy, loving family.

Social Media Ban - Helpful or Harmful?

By Lucy 6A

After the recent social media ban was put in place, there has been much debate over whether this change is for better or worse. Today, I will be looking at both sides of the coin, to determine if we really should have this ban in place.

A common argument for the ban is to protect kids from inappropriate content, bullying and mental health effects. Online, specifically on social media, there is a lot of content that is harmful and inappropriate for children. There are a lot of people out there who are cruel, racist and sexist, and no one wants those people near their children. People are shamed for their weight, ethnicity, face, hair and opinions. It can get to the point where kids lose the will to live because of it, and commit self-harm or even suicide.

On the other hand though, there are many useful things to learn and kind people out there. YouTube tutorials are a main way to learn new skills, hobbies and talents, something no one wants to lose. My school network had banned YouTube even before the official restriction, but it meant we couldn’t use it for tutorials when we were doing craft and related things. No one wants to miss out on these opportunities.

Many say that a ban on social media will mean that kids will spend more time offline, in face-to-face interactions. They’ll go out with their friends more, experience new things and learn life skills you can’t find anywhere else. But then again, many more say that kids will still stay on it, just without an account. They may even become more addicted, as a lot of young teens like the feeling of avoiding and breaking rules.

The biggest argument against the ban seems to be that tweens and young teens will just find a way around it. They will use their parents account, or an older sibling’s, or they’ll fake their age. These kids are addicted, and aren’t going to go down without a fight. They also say that you can still use other messaging apps, such as Messages, WhatsApp and games such as Roblox. To counter this, they say that they will enforce massive fines of up to 49.5 million dollars on companies they find with underage users. They hope that the companies will make their security measures better, possibly becoming a competition between companies.

Now, with all the information given, what do you think? Should social media be banned, or should we keep it?

The Social Media Ban 

By Archer 6A

Recently Australia was hit with a very controversial social media ban to anybody under the age of 16 and there has been a lot of mixed opinions about the ban. But I’m here to tell you why I believe that the social media ban is a great way to build up children's fitness, social skills, and prevent cyber bullying.

It is a fact that in the last 30 years child obesity has gone up significantly and all the evidence points to social media. Children under 16 spend an average of 7.5 HOURS on screens every day not including school, That is too much. Now that children are spending all their time on devices children aren’t spending enough time outside playing sport, and as they are mindlessly scrolling they are also mindlessly eating which leads to obesity.

The homeschooling numbers have surged in the past couple years and It is believed to be caused by social media. Children spend so much time on social media that they forget how to socialise and start having a hard time making friends which therefore leads to homeschooling. In the old days children had no problem making friends because they were always playing in the street with one another but now kids are inside all day on their phones. But with the ban in place children are forced to go outside for the summer and play with their neighbours.

In the last couple years there have been millions of children bullied online across the world and even worse hundreds of kids have taken their own lives because of cyberbullying and have personal experiences with cyberbullying. My brother is addicted to his phone, (He shall be unnamed), he spends hours just scrolling through reels and he has been bullied by his friends online to the point where he BURST INTO TEARS. I don’t think you would want to be bullied like that, would you?

If you’ve finished reading this and you still think the social media ban is a bad idea then you need to step outside, bend down and touch some grass.

Should Social Media be Banned?

By Alyssa L 6B

Should social media be banned? This question has echoed throughout the whole of Australia ever since Prime Minister Albanese declared the ban. In this piece I will be debating the positives and negatives of Australia’s social media ban.

Firstly, one of the pros of the ban is that young children will start to give up their screens, and go outside and experience nature. If children are on their devices frequently, they can become distant and not socialise with their family, friends and the people around them, which could damage valuable relationships.

On the other hand, if social media is banned, children will succumb to boredom, which can lead to shoplifting, graffiti, and other forms of crime. Once children stumble down this path, it will be near impossible to find their way out. According to Community Care Australia, boredom is one of the most common influences of crime for children in their teenage years.

Although banning social media could cause boredom, many studies say boredom is positive, as children's brains aren’t endlessly scrolling social media, following trends and the like, it encourages them to think creatively and efficiently, which leads to better jobs, universities, and overall opportunities.

Another thing that is a detrimental effect of the ban is that many content creators and musicians looking to share their work with the world through social media will be forced to find another way to expand their business, which can discourage young people and give them a negative mindset towards following their dreams. 27% of all the young people in Australia that use social media are content creators, working hard to get their ideas heard.

As of today, social media is hereby banned in this country. Whether or not it stays banned is up to us young people of Australia.

Thank you.

Debate about the Social Media Ban

So the ban has come. It has dawned upon us. There are people who have different perspectives on this.“What was the government thinking?. Why against us?"That's probably the question everyone has. Like the last ban, the ‘machete amnesty’ , what did that change to the amount of crime rate? They literally used $13 million just for bins to put their "knives” in. Couldn’t people use a different type of weapon?

The ban might influence people to do the wrong thing, especially kids. One example of that might be trying to breach past the ban. Now the parents have the choice to give or not to give their kids the opportunity to use social media. If you don’t have social media how do you know what is in the world? If you think reading a book is going to tell you everything, no. The world is changing by the second. Let’s just say there is a tornado coming and you didn’t know. Are you just going to sit there and say, “Oh I’m going to die.”

What might the government be plotting? Why out of nowhere did they bring the ban, while everything is built on social media? We might never know. Are they trying to control us? If they have all of our information like what we do, what we watch, couldn't they do something?

Secondly, the ban might make teens do the wrong thing. Making them bored, and suddenly just taking away something part of their life is not going to bring any good. Graffiti might be one of the things they might do. Usually teens are seen on the streets vandalising places and businesses. The teens might even do something worse.

Thirdly, communication will be a huge part taken away from everyone. If the apps are banned and can’t be used, what will people do when they need help? Lastly kids and teens might have their whole life on a platform trying to promote something.

A solution to all this might be the parents of the kids actually monitoring them. If that doesn't work they shouldn’t give them a phone in the first place. We never know what might happen next. If we live in society and country with leaders making choices like this giving a sense of uncertainty are we just supposed to cooperate or say what we want to say?

The Social Media Ban 

By Olivia H 6B

"By bringing the world together, social media is tearing it apart." as Naval Ravikant said. Children these days are addicted to social media, stuck on their phones, and not realising the consequences of their actions. This is why I strongly support the government's new law; allowing only people ages sixteen or over to use social media platforms.

To start off, you’ve probably ridden a tram or train packed with students — and nearly every single one of them is scrolling through social media or gaming. ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research) has addressed the problem of decreasing academic results, but people are constantly addicted to their devices, and give no time for learning. Without the time to learn, what will we do? Devoting time and energy to learning is crucial for children and young adults, it's a time for us to grow academically and social media is taking that away. However, creating poor time-management habits isn't the only way social media is affecting education; the damage goes deeper, affecting our brains.

Scientists from all around the world have proven that social media is in fact damaging your brain. Perhaps that's why learning is becoming such a massive challenge for young people; their capacity to focus is fundamentally compromised. The data people have collected is shocking: The US department of education has said that an average human attention span has plummeted from 12 seconds in 2000 to a mere 8 seconds today—now officially less than that of a goldfish. This constant, high-speed exposure is literally re-shaping our children's brains, leading to a decreased attention span and making the deep focus required for academic learning incredibly difficult. By enforcing this new law, we allow their brains to have the essential break they need to develop in a healthy way.

People also often say that social media is something that drags them out of boredom so they have something to do. But being bored isn’t a bad thing, being bored can actually significantly improve your creativity and shape yourself like a special ability. There is even a book named “The power of boredom”, it deeply explains how boredom allows you to be creative and not on your phone. How boredom allows self reflection which lets people realize who they are and shape themselves. Not constantly distracting themselves from boredom and embracing it instead, letting it be part of you. That's another benefit to your brain by stepping away from social media.

You’ve most likely seen a post on social media and you think “Damn! This person looks so good, I’m not nearly as beautiful as this person.” Slowly when times go on, you get exposed to masses of similar content, this causes people to become self conscious and starts to believe that everyone is living better lives than them. But the truth is, people only show the best parts of their life onto social media. They don’t post their struggles or their problems so it seems like their life is perfect.

These are only a few reasons why I believe in the social media ban. It's for our own good, to allow us to become healthy and knowledgeable. This topic alone could start a whole new world, a world of possibilities. This is why I again strongly believe that the new social media law can benefit children and young adults. Like the Melbourne Girls College principal had said, “Real relationships are made face to face, not on a screen.”