Educative approach won’t fix social media ills: Headmaster

In an opinion piece in The New Zealand Herald, Sacred Heart College (Auckland) headmaster Patrick Walsh said that some commentators have espoused the benefits of social media for under-16s, but “offer no solutions to the serious harm caused to young people other than to renew our efforts with an educative approach”.

“This, we already know, has not been effective.”

Mr Walsh referred to the “normalisation of harm” for young people, including bullying, sexting, addiction to gaming, sleep deprivation, anxiety and sexualised violence.

“Currently we are exposing a generation of young people to mental and emotional assault, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Mr Walsh said.

“Many young people tell us they’re on their phones until 3am, fuelled by energy drinks, unable to switch off. They arrive at school exhausted, disengaged and withdrawn. They’re living in a parallel universe, constantly scrolling, constantly stimulated, yet ironically isolated.”

Mr Walsh said the “addictive nature of these [social media] platforms is well understood, and yet we continue to place some of the most powerful computers ever invented – smartphones – into the hands of 16-year-olds without restriction or adequate filters”.

At Sacred Heart College, counsellors, deans and support staff have to manage the fallout. Mr Walsh said dealing with the issue is “an enormous burden on schools to contend with when our primary focus should be on education”.

He called for clear, enforceable boundaries to be set by authorities – “just like we have for alcohol, cigarettes or driving”.

“At Sacred Heart, the feedback from students about our phone restrictions has been overwhelmingly positive. They feel freer, more present, more focused,” he wrote.

Mr Walsh noted that the Australian Government has “seized the initiative and is working through the technical and legal barriers” concerning social media restrictions.

“We know it won’t be easy, but like them, we owe it to our tamariki to give it a go.”

FULL STORY

Social media is harming our kids, not helping them (By Patrick Walsh/New Zealand Herald – subscription required).