Mark Knight cartoon ponders how the U16 social media ban will work
Banning social media will be no easy task for kids born into a world where Wi-Fi and connectivity are just as important as electricity and running water, says cartoonist Mark Knight
READING LEVEL: ORANGE
The Albanese government is trying to do something that people say is impossible. Ban Australians who are under the age of 16 from social media.
I hear the sound of children fainting all over the country and children’s hospital emergency departments full of hyperventilating* kids. Stay calm. It’s for your own protection, they say.
As we know, there are so many great things about the online world, but there are also so many bad things too.
There is a campaign that says kids should just be kids. By that they mean to say that children should be out doing the things that growing kids should be doing – like playing outdoors with friends, competing in sport, reading and being involved in the arts, instead of sitting around doomscrolling* on Instagram or being bullied on Snapchat.
People of my generation, born in 1962 (yes I am a fossil), grew up in a world without the internet. That’s very different to you guys who were born into it. Wi-Fi and online connectivity are like running water and electricity these days. The internet is now a vital utility*, necessary to our way of life – just as many of our social media sites are like Snapchat and Messenger. It’s how we communicate and operate. We have become reliant on it.
How those under 16 cope without these networks remains to be seen. I know I use YouTube as an instructive helping hand with many things as I imagine students do too. That’s going to be hard to replace. But if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from my three kids who are all grown up now, it’s that you guys know the cyber world like the back of your hand!
So I decided to draw a cartoon about the challenges of protecting young people from the harms of the online world until they are of an age where they are mature enough to deal with it. I imagined a tech savvy 10 year old girl in her bedroom and there at the door are her parents, the Prime Minister and tech giant and head of Meta*, Mark Zuckerberg. Imagine that lot knocking on your bedroom door! They are there to “disconnect” young Imogen from her social media. What are their chances? Can the combined weight of parents, the Government and tech companies (the latter of which are there reluctantly, may I add) defeat the tech-savvy younger generation?
It took a while for me to get the right expression on Imogen’s face. I used a cartoon technique of actually giving her two expressions on one face. The left eye is lidded* and looks smugly confident, the right eye, wide open and a little wild, unpredictable. The answer to the question is that I believe they don’t stand a snowflake’s chance in hell of defeating the 10 year old!
What this process will hopefully do is bring about change, greater scrutiny* and awareness from all sides about how we deal with and use the online world. By history’s measure, it hasn’t been around for that long and like a new bike, we are still learning how to ride it!
POLL
GLOSSARY
- hyperventilating: panicking so much you are struggling to breathe
- doomscrolling: scrolling through seemingly endless feeds of negative news or videos
- utility: something we use to get by in our daily lives, like electricity or water
- Meta: the parent company of Facebook and Instagram
- lidded: when the eye looks droopy or heavy
- scrutiny: carefully examining something
EXTRA READING
‘Monumental’ step to protect kids
Social media Australia’s Death Star
Landline coming back to the future
QUICK QUIZ
1. Who is knocking at young Imogen’s door?
2. Why has the Government introduced a ban on social media for kids under the age of 16?
3. What clever technique did Mark Knight use to get create Imogen’s facial expression just right?
4. What is this cartoon about?
5. What does the term “kids should just be kids” mean?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Seeing both sides
Supporters of, and those against, the social media bans both have their reasons for their positions on the topic. To understand the issue it is important to try to see it from both sides. Create a table with two columns labelled “For Social Media Ban” and “Against Social Media Ban,” then add some of the arguments to your table. You can include points made in this Kids News story, and other reports you have seen or heard, as well points you have heard raised in discussions you have had with friends, family, teachers, coaches, etc.
Consider the arguments on your lists. Highlight the ones that you think are the strongest or most important.
Write one detailed sentence to explain your opinion of the ban.
Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Digital Technologies; Health and Physical Education; Personal and Social Capability
2. Extension
If you could save just one social media site from the ban, which one would you save? Write an explanation for your choice.
Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Digital Technologies; Health and Physical Education; Personal and Social Capability
VCOP ACTIVITY
What happens next?
Imagine this story is part of an animated series made up of three cartoons. The three cartoons tell the complete story and this article is only Part One. 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