As of December 10th, Australia has implemented one of the world’s most stringent measures regarding children and social media:  minors under 16 will not be allowed to have accounts on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, or Facebook, even with parental authorization. The decision, reported in Forum Libertas, opens a global debate of enormous importance.

Is this the protection that children need, or are we delegating to the State responsibilities that belong to the family and society?

The measure is based on reports about mental health, digital addiction, harassment, exposure to inappropriate content, and loss of well-being among adolescents. The studies converge on an undeniable reality: social media is not neutral, and its impact on the psychological and emotional development of young people is profound.

However, the Australian decision also raises fundamental questions: Is banning enough? Can we continue to look the other way? What role should parent, young people, and educators play?

1. What’s behind the Australian initiative: its pros and cons

 Solid scientific evidence

Several studies and health agencies warn of an increase in anxiety, depression, self-harm, and sleep disorders linked to the intensive use of social media in minors.

 A political will to stop the growing damage

Australia acknowledges that platform self-regulation mechanisms have failed. The legislation seeks a framework that prioritizes child development over the commercial interests of the digital industry.

 An ethical and educational challenge

The debate is not only regulatory, but cultural: what kind of support are we offering our young people in a digital environment that we have handed over to the logic of the market?

2. What can young people learn from this debate?

The Australian measure is not a punishment; it is a symptom of something that is already happening:

• Social networks have been designed to capture attention, not to protect well-being.
• Constant social comparison weakens self-esteem.
• Hyperconnectivity impoverishes real relationships.
• And the most delicate thing:  algorithms know more about you than you do yourself.

Young people face a crucial task:  regaining control of their time, their identity, and their perspective on life. Disconnecting isn’t isolation; it’s breathing. It’s choosing. It’s growing.

3. What do parents need to understand?

Regulation is necessary because this problem transcends individual families. Not for lack of will, but because of the technological power at stake.

Three clear messages:

• It’s not about demonizing, but about accompanying

The goal is not to ban screens, but to teach people how to live in a world that needs them…  without losing their mental health.

• Supervision is not authoritarian control, but care.

Asking a child what they watch, how they feel after using social media, or what worries them is just as important as knowing who they go out with.

• The home is the first “educational algorithm”

Habits of conversation, rest, reading, play, and socializing are stronger than any application.

4. What can we educators do?

Educational institutions need to take a step that many are already attempting:

• Educating in digital citizenship, not just in technological skills.
• Teaching how to distinguish truth from noise, purpose from distraction, identity from digital persona.
• Create safe spaces for dialogue where young people can talk about what they see, feel, and suffer online.
• It should be noted that autonomy is not total independence, but the ability to make informed decisions.

The school’s mission is to transform information into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom for living. We cannot delegate this task to a screen.

5. And what about us, as a society?

If Australia has had to go this far, perhaps it is because the rest of the world is not acting with the necessary speed.

We are at a critical moment: childhood lives “connected”, but not necessarily accompanied; informed, but not educated; exposed, but not protected.

The question isn’t whether prohibition is the ultimate solution. The question is:  What were we waiting for to react?

Final reflection: what we are losing when we do not act

While we debate, irreplaceable things are being eroded :

• Real time spent with family.
• Deep attention and the ability to be bored — the driving force behind creative thinking.
• The feeling of worth that does not depend on a “like”.
• The clear-eyed perspective of teenagers on who they are and who they want to be.
• The possibility of growing without an algorithm deciding what they should desire, fear, or imitate.

We cannot afford a generation that learns more from their screens than from human role models. The Australian measure is a wake-up call. A reminder. A mirror that challenges us:  What are we willing to do to protect what matters most?

Because, as we advocate at Marketing and Services, the key to any educational and social purpose is to serve to improve the world. And today, improving the world begins with protecting children and giving them an environment where they can flourish.

#ServingToImproveTheWorld

José María Sánchez Villa