Christopher Luxon and James Laughlin examine why young people are increasingly anxious, pointing to smartphones and social media as major culprits. A study found 4 in 10 young people on social media wouldn't choose to be there. They discuss school phone bans and propose raising the minimum age for social media to 16 in New Zealand.
16 (in New Zealand).
Four out of ten (4/10).
I really worry about the mental health crisis that we're seeing in our young people and the anxiety that we've seen rise over the last 10, 12 years, not just across New Zealand, but globally.
So, Mr. Luxon, whether people love him or loathe him, I'm like, high five, dude. Well done on banning phones.
Absolutely. What we're really seeing has been a significant shift in terms of almost every metric that you can look at in the schools that have successfully implemented the phone maths.
We overprotect our kids in the real world.
Absolutely.
Under protect them on the online world.
Absolutely.
I can see that. Like, I've got kids I know, that are six and seven that have full access on an iPad, to Google, to YouTube.
Absolutely.
That's toxic.
I'm really seeing the impact of what that smartphone generation is experiencing and what the social media generation is experiencing, and it's flowing into every aspect of our life, of our economy, of our country. We're looking to implement a minimum age of 16 for social media in New Zealand. And I think it's really basic, like, you know, we put safeguards in place for our children in the physical world and so we really need to apply that same rule to the online world. There was a recent study done that said, I think it was four out of 10 children or teenagers that are on social media don't actually want social media and they wouldn't be on there unless their peers were on it. And so even kids themselves are realising this is bad for them and they shouldn't have to realise that for us to be able to provide safeguards around them.
