Social media leaves biggest issues in free fall in Knight’s cartoon

It usually takes a generation or two to measure the full effects of changes in technology and the influence that these changes have on our lives.

Like guinea pigs in a lab, it is important to measure changes. We have just gone through another industrial revolution* with the creation of the internet.

You guys wouldn’t know life before the internet, but it was very different to now. Just like when I was a kid, I wouldn’t have known what life was like before television. Okay, just call me a fossil*, but the fact is that we are seeing our evolution* happen now before our very eyes. It is all mostly good, but some of it has negative impacts as well.

With the release in January 2007 of the Apple iPhone, we saw the turbocharging of the modern era of communications. It also saw Facebook, which started in 2004, Instagram (2010) TikTok, Twitter (or X as it is called now) and Snapchat heralding the rise of social media as THE source of communication and information.

Our little handheld devices became our window to the world 24/7, where people could share experiences with others all around the planet. It connected the globe.

But as with most things, people go too far, act inappropriately or take advantage and now we are seeing the downside of social media. The spreading of fake news, cyber-bullying, unpleasant violent images and disturbing adult content are just some of the downsides.

We are seeing young people becoming addicted to their screens and depressed by witnessing things on social media or having thoughts of self-harm. For my generation, bullies existed, it’s true. They were usually in the school playground, but now these cowards can enter your home through your phone and continue the bullying there. Older generations say “just switch the phone off” but they don’t realise that young people are conditioned to live in that cyber world and it is impossible to switch it off.

So that is why now governments and mental health authorities are looking at prevention* by various means. And one of them is raising the age limits for social media accounts. But how would that work? I find it amusing to think that my older Boomer generation* is going to try to block social media access and outsmart tech savvy teens. We know who will win that one! But as I said at the start, we are witnessing the effects of this technology after a couple of generations and we need to do something about it. Your input is crucial too.

So that is why I felt compelled this week to draw a cartoon on the topic of children and social media. We are headed down the social media “rabbit hole”.

That term comes from one of literature’s great stories, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, written in 1865.

Basically, Alice is a young girl who falls down a deep rabbit hole when following a white rabbit. At the bottom of the hole she meets a host of strange characters and unusual places, which I have used as a metaphor* for the world of social media. Our children and teens are going down this rabbit hole and we are not confident it is all good and unsure what they will encounter and the effect it will have on them.

The cartoon is an unanswered question and encourages reflection on the issue. The cartoon shows a teenager plunging down that rabbit hole abyss*, hand outstretched, searching for help.

This image does most definitely NOT get a “like” from me!

POLL

GLOSSARY

• industrial revolution: the first Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries saw work and production move to machines and factories and away from manual labour and creating goods by hand
• fossil: shape or impression of a bone, shell, plant or animal preserved in rock for a very long time but used colloquially to refer to someone who is very old or seen to be very old
• evolution: a gradual process of change and development
• prevention: to stop something from happening or someone from doing something
• Boomer generation: those born during a baby boom between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s
• metaphor: a creative device where two things that are usually unrelated are compared to each other
• abyss: difficult situation that brings trouble, an immeasurably deep gulf or hole

EXTRA READING

Leaders push social media reform

TikTok labels AI-generated content

National phone ban for schools?

TikTok biggest time-waster for kids

QUICK QUIZ

1. Which five major social media platforms does Mark Knight list?
2. What does Mark think is amusing about his “Boomer generation”?
3. Which children’s classic by which author inspired Mark’s cartoon.
4. What is the harm prevention measure being looked at by government and mental health authorities?
5. What are adults seeing happen today to young people that has them so concerned?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Cartoon analysis
After reading and analysing the Mark Knight cartoon in the Kids News explainer, answer the following questions to help you get the full meaning out of his drawing:

What is the main issue Mark Knight is highlighting?

Who is portrayed in the cartoon?

How are they portrayed?

What is the humour in the drawing?

Who might agree with his viewpoint?

Who might disagree or possibly be offended by this viewpoint?

Do you think he makes a good point? Explain your answer.

Time: allow 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Write a response to this cartoon from the viewpoint of one of the people or objects portrayed in the cartoon. Think, what would be their response to the speech bubble and satire from the cartoon.

Write or draw your response below.

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
What happens next?
Imagine this cartoon is part of an animated series made up of three cartoons. The three cartoons tell the complete story and this cartoon is only Part 1. Think about what the rest of the story could be and draw the next two cartoons that tell the story.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts, Visual Communication Design, Critical and Creative Thinking