In the digital age, parents face unprecedented challenges navigating social media’s complex landscape. One Queensland mother shares her strategic approach to protecting her children’s online experience.
Social media is a double-edged sword slicing through teenage life, simultaneously connecting and threatening a generation’s emotional landscape.
Mrs Danielle Hogno knows the digital minefield of modern parenting. As a mother of four – a son aged 18, and three daughters aged 16, 15 and 13 – she is navigating the treacherous terrain of teenage social media with unwavering vigilance.
Her eldest is studying physiotherapy at the University of Southern Queensland, her second eldest is in year 12 at Highlands Christian College – where Mrs Hogno works as a vocational education, training and pathways coordinator – and her two youngest daughters are in years 10 and 8 at the school.
Mrs Hogno’s family’s educational journey began in the local state school system. Initially, their children thrived, benefiting from dedicated teachers and a familiar community. However, subtle shifts started to emerge – new teachers brought different approaches, and the school’s cultural landscape began to change.
A turning point came when her eldest son felt increasingly isolated at his state school. Surrounded by peers constantly glued to their phones, he struggled to find meaningful social connections.
“He went to the local state school until midway through year 8. We didn’t give him a phone until he was 15, so he had nothing to do at lunchtime because everyone else was on their phones,” Mrs Hogno recalls.
Highlands Christian College, an independent, non-denominational co-educational P-12 school in Toowoomba, emerged as a beacon of hope. With a strict no phone policy and a principal they knew from years past, the school offered an alternative to the digital-saturated educational landscape. The decision wasn’t only about technology but about creating a more intentional learning environment.
They transitioned their eldest child first, and their daughters followed within a term.
“Our son loved his new school, because then lunch times were spent running around, allowing him to burn off energy,” she says.
The transition to Highlands Christian College wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction, but a carefully considered strategy.
When it comes to social media, Mrs Hogno’s family’s approach has been deliberately measured, recognising the potential risks while understanding the inevitability of digital engagement.
Her advice to parents is clear: “If you are in a place of making a decision as to whether to let them have a phone, you are going to be holding back the tide if you say yes, and your child is not ready and forever cleaning up the pieces,” she says.
“There have been several occasions when something has unfolded that’s social media related in a school context, and the month before, my kids have put the pressure on to get TikTok or Snapchat, and then something has blown up, and I’ve said, ‘Aren’t you lucky? You’re not part of that. You don’t have to worry about it’. If you say yes, you’ve opened them up to everything, and then you’re in damage control.
“If you can limit their exposure to social media with reasonable boundaries and transparency, you have a much better chance of managing it with them, because you’re not going to be able to stop them, ultimately.”
It’s a sentiment that resonates with parents struggling to manage their children’s digital exposure.
Since Mrs Hogno’s eldest child changed schools, the Queensland Government has banned mobile phones at all Queensland state schools during school hours – including break times – which came into effect in Term 1, 2024.
The power of parental involvement
Through her involvement with the Queensland Independent Schools Parents Network, Mrs Hogno has gained broader insights into the challenges facing modern families.
Her advocacy goes beyond her own family, seeking to support and inform other parents navigating similar challenges around mobile phones and social media.
“Having experienced both state and independent sectors, I advocate for parents to have the option to choose where they want their kids to be schooled, whether it’s co-ed or single sex, public or private, or in a particular faith. We know that our children are growing up in a digital world, and we may only be buying them a few years in terms of the cultural push by sending them to a different school, like we did, but that is valuable at their age,” she says.
“If we’ve got an option to give them safe passage, we should at least try. And if we know what our options are in terms of schools, we’ve got a much better chance of achieving that.”
She describes access to mobile phones and social media as a double-edged sword.
“I’m not trying to shelter my kids from it,” she clarifies. “But I don’t need them to have extra stuff they’ve got to think about, consider, navigate when so much is already happening.” It’s a nuanced approach that recognises the complexity of modern childhood.
Her strategy involves transparency and ongoing communication. “If you can support and be involved and help them navigate what is a really complex digital environment, that’s what I’ve been mindful of,” she explains. This approach extends to social media, where she emphasises the importance of reasonable boundaries and open dialogue.
Her final piece of advice is both hopeful and pragmatic: “If you’ve got clear boundaries, I would be seriously considering making the most of it, because that social media tsunami is going to come soon enough.” It’s a reminder that parental involvement is about creating opportunities, when your child is ready, not imposing restrictions.
In the complex landscape of modern parenting, Mrs Hogno recognises the challenges while maintaining a sense of optimism. Her message is clear: with careful consideration, open communication, and strategic involvement, parents can successfully navigate the digital minefield.
Two sides
The Australian Government made international headlines when it delivered on its highly publicised commitment to support parents and protect young people by setting a minimum age of 16 years for social media, with legislation passing Parliament on 29 November 2024.
The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 has been lauded as a landmark measure that will deliver greater protections for young Australians during critical stages of their development.
The laws place the onus on social media platforms – not young people or their parents – to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 years of age from having accounts, and ensures systemic breaches will see platforms face fines of up to $50 million.
The minimum age will apply to ‘age-restricted social media platforms’ as defined in the bill, which includes Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X and others.
Importantly, the bill ensures that the law is responsive to the ever-evolving nature of technology, while enabling continued access to messaging, online gaming, and services and apps that are primarily for the purposes of education and health support – like Headspace, Kids Helpline, Google Classroom and YouTube.
Dr Alexia Maddox has been following the passage of the legislation, from proposal to law, in her role in the School of Education at La Trobe University.
As a Senior Lecturer in Pedagogy and Education Futures, Dr Maddox is at the forefront of a rapidly evolving landscape. With a background as a sociologist of technology, she brings a unique perspective to the way technology is shaping the future of learning.
At the heart of the debate around the social media age ban is a complex web of concerns and considerations, Dr Maddox says, including parental anxieties about the impact of social media on youth.
“The social media age ban is really a response to parents’ concerns about how social media is affecting their kids, and of course, teachers have a real exposure to that with the way that kids use social media in their personal lives and also how it affects their learning,” she says.
The ban, which aims to restrict access to social media platforms for children under the age of 16, is seen by some as a way to address issues like mental health, cyberbullying, and exposure to inappropriate content. However, Dr Maddox cautions that the effectiveness of such a ban has not been demonstrated in other jurisdictions.
She says the timing of the social media age limit legislation, ahead of the 2025 federal election, capitalised on parental anxieties rather than engaging with the nuanced evidence base.
“For parents who are anxious about how social media is affecting their kids, how much time their kids spend on social media, and managing the dysfunction and issues that can arise – like anxiety and bullying for example – an age ban feels safer,” she says. “However, as it has played out in other countries, there has been no evidence of an age ban being effective in keeping kids safe.”
In Australia, stakeholders such as the social change initiative 36 Months have advocated for the social media age ban whilst acknowledging the need for children’s access to educational content available through platforms such as YouTube, Dr Maddox says.
“However, looking at what has happened in the US where pornography age ban restrictions have been implemented in states such as Louisiana, there has been increased VPN (Virtual Private Network) usage,” she explains. “While we don’t know the ages of who is using VPNs to access pornography, this practice is very likely to translate to the Australian context where there will be social media age restrictions.”
Dr Maddox says social media also has a lot of benefits, particularly for kids in regional and remote areas, and kids from migrant families whose grandparents might be overseas, helping them to stay connected.
“Kids who are marginalised, for example, the LGBTQI+ community, often use social media to find acceptance and safe places to explore their identity and sexuality.
“Social media is fundamental to how kids hang out with their peer groups and get access to knowledge and information. It’s embedded in their lives.”
Digital literacy is important
Dr Maddox’s nuanced understanding of the social and educational implications of the ban will be crucial in shaping a balanced and evidence-based approach to protecting young people in the digital age. She emphasises the importance of digital literacy and the need for a comprehensive strategy that addresses the root causes of online harms, rather than simply restricting access.
“Social media is a way of life for young people and beyond that, it’s a way of life for all of us; we use it in our workplaces, we use it for professional networking. We understand how to manage our privacy settings, and to be alert to scams and phishing. That kind of digital literacy is important for us as adults, because it’s in our work, our citizen life, and our social lives,” she says.
The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 contains strong privacy provisions, with platforms required to ring-fence and destroy any data collected once it has been used for age assurance purposes. Failure to destroy data would be a breach of the Privacy Act, with penalties of up to $50 million.
In November 2024, then Minister for Communications Ms Michelle Rowland said the government had listened to young people, parents and carers, experts, and industry in developing these landmark laws to ensure they were centred on protecting young people – not isolating them.
“Good government is about facing up to difficult reform – we know these laws are novel, but to do nothing is simply not an option.
“Over the next 12 months, we’ll work closely with industry and experts to ensure the minimum age is effectively implemented, informed by the findings of the Age Assurance Technology Trial currently underway,” she said.
According to Dr Maddox, the proposed age verification technology trials reveal significant technical challenges that weren’t apparent when the legislation was first proposed.
“We’re seeing concerning accuracy gaps in biometric age estimation, especially for young teenagers, and significant disparities across different demographic groups. These technical limitations could create unintended barriers for legitimate users while potentially failing to protect those the legislation aims to safeguard,” she says.
Garnering far less media attention than the social media age limit legislation is the Government’s Digital Duty of Care legislation, which will place the onus on digital platforms to proactively keep Australians safe and better prevent online harms.
Dr Maddox argues that the Digital Duty of Care legislation is a more evidence-based and collaborative approach, one that addresses the root causes of online harms rather than simply restricting access.
She says the legislation has been developed through extensive consultation, unlike the age ban that does not stem from the recommendations of the Inquiry into Social Media and Online Safety, the final report for which was recently released.
“The Digital Duty of Care bill is evidence-based and it has been well considered. It’s taking a safety-by-design approach, working with platforms to improve their features to increase the safety for all of us online, including kids,” Dr Maddox says.
Aligned with United Kingdom and European Union approaches, digital platforms will be required to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harms on their platforms and services, with the framework to be underpinned by risk assessment and risk mitigation, and informed by safety-by-design principles.
Legislating a duty of care will mean services can’t ‘set and forget’. Instead, their obligations will mean they need to continually identify and mitigate potential risks, as technology and service offerings change and evolve.
