<div id="readability-page-1">China’s National Press and Publication Administration introduced gaming regulations for under 18s in 2019, including a curfew and daily playing time limits of 90 minutes on weekdays and three hours at weekends and on public holidays. When the authorities tightened the rules in 2021, some Western media characterised the measures as draconian and a textbook example of state overreach.\nSince then, the regulation of minors’ online activity has attracted wider attention as more governments grapple with the effects of social media.\nAustralia has become the first Western democracy to legally ban under 16s from using certain social media platforms, including X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat. Under the new regulations, technology companies could face penalties for noncompliance. With this move, Canberra is signalling that it now considers access to social media to be a matter of public health and safety.\nEurope and several Asian governments are considering similar measures. Singapore’s Ministry of Education has focused on schools. Starting in January, secondary school students will no longer be allowed to use smartphones or smartwatches during school hours, consistent with policies already in place in primary schools. The aim is to reset the school day as a time for face-to-face interaction and focused learning.\nAdvocates worldwide warn that unrestricted smartphone use during the school day hampers both learning and well-being. Teachers report that personal devices distract students from lessons, with notifications and apps encouraging constant task switching rather than engagement.\nResearch studies link heavy social media use among adolescents to elevated risks of cyberbullying, social comparison and disrupted sleep patterns. These factors are associated with higher rates of anxiety, depression and, in some cases, suicidal thoughts and self-harm.\n\nSchools in countries such as France, Spain and Britain have implemented phone restrictions on the grounds of child protection rather than discipline.\nA recent Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development report on childhood in the digital age found that while devices offer the benefits of learning, play and social connection, intensive and poorly managed use can affect children’s development, sleep, physical health and mental well-being, with links to anxiety, depression and problematic online experiences.\nWith several governments closely monitoring the developments in Australia, we are witnessing a shift in the social contract between the state, parents and children. Ideologies may differ between Beijing and Brussels, or between Asian and Western capitals, but they face the same fundamental dilemma: how to let young people grow up in a connected world without leaving them vulnerable to products never designed with their well-being in mind.\nMany parents’ worries are not entirely new, but technology has intensified and extended them. Traditional teasing and playground gossip now follow children home through their phones, turning what was once time-limited conflict into 24-hour digital confrontation that can be screenshotted, shared and replayed.\nInternational studies recognise cyberbullying as a significant public health issue: young people targeted online are more likely to report symptoms of depression and anxiety, and feelings of loneliness and exclusion.\nThe same pattern holds for broader social media use. Being left out, judged by peers or exposed to unrealistic standards has always been part of growing up. Constant connectivity amplifies these pressures. Many children rely on online spaces for friendship, self-expression and support. These same spaces can create anxiety, disrupt rest and magnify unkindness in ways that are difficult to manage.\n\n\nThe perspectives of young people cannot be ignored. For the current generation, social media platforms are more than just apps to pass the time; they are the modern equivalent of the schoolyard, art studio and playground combined.\nMany young people devote considerable time and effort to building online communities and regard these networks as essential to their well-being and future careers. For them, being banned from a social media platform feels less like protection and more like eviction from a space they helped to create – one they are likely to try to access again.\nChildren spend more of their connected time at home than in class, and research on problematic social media use and internet overuse consistently points to the quality of family relationships and communication as a significant factor in both the causation and alleviation of psychological distress.\nWhen parents set reasonable screen time limits, model their own phone habits and make time to talk about what children are seeing and doing online, it can reduce some of the risks associated with social media use and help young people cope better with upsetting content or peer pressure.\nFor any internet or social media policy to be effective, measures at home and at school must work together rather than operate separately. Guidance from education and child protection authorities increasingly emphasises that online safety is a shared responsibility: schools can establish clear rules, use filtered networks and teach digital citizenship, while parents can supervise daily activities, offer emotional support and foster an environment conducive to open and honest conversations when issues arise.\nIn that sense, combining age limits, school restrictions, stronger platform regulation and practical support for families offers a shared approach whereby governments from very different political traditions, whether in Asia or the West, accept that they face a common problem. Families, educators and regulators all have a part to play in helping children navigate an online world that is not going away.\n</div>

West is getting on the same page as China for children’s social media use