Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Nathan Wallis: Parenting expert on a social media ban for youth, the connection between social media and mental health issues

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Nathan Wallis: Parenting expert on a social media ban for youth, the connection between social media and mental health issues · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The Aussies. The government there it has decided to ban
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: the use of social media apps like TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Facebook for children. The age limit don't know yet still
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: to be decided. The legislation will be introduced by the
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: end of the year. They say, our Prime minister City
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: is open to looking at this. How do you police it?
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Nathan Wallace is a parenting expert and he's with us
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: this morning. Nathan, good morning, Good morning, right, how are
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: you mate, I'm very well, thank you. Good idea bad
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: idea for a ban.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: I think it's a good idea. I mean, I know
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: it seems like the horses bolted already, but there's long
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: correlation between our mental health crisis and how social media
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: is contributing to that. And you know, people can't access counseling.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: People on the phone, you start actually trying to get
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: access counseling and trying to get an ADHD diagnosis. Though
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: I told it was either two and a half grand
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: to see someone or a year and a half way.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: So if we take the health crisis from the other end,
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: if we ban things by social media, that could be
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: one of the major causes of our our mental health
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: crisis with teenagers.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: I support it, okay, these days I'm like, who doesn't
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: have ADHD?
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: Is is it possible?
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Are then phones cause ADHD?
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: No? Not really ADHD. It's hard to diagnose ADHD because
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: it's very similar to trauma, you know, I'm basically the
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: brain just responds to stress in a similar way. So
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: whether that is trauma, whether it's ADHD, whether you're grieving
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: because your grandmother's dying, the brain responds in a similar way.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: So it's hard to say exactly what is ADHD.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Vaping, but yeah, vaping and drinking. Obviously kids can't do it,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: but they still do. Do you see this as another
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: one that would fall into that category? Are you shouldn't
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: it's illegal? But actually they do anyway.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. I think lots of people are going to do
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: social media anyway because they've had a whole generation of
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: kids who have got used to doing social media. But
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: when you make it illegal, you do seend a clear
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: message that this is dangerous because a lot of people
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: now let their kids drink under at you know, let
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: their kids vape, So you're going to get people that
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: do it anyway. But I still think it's a good
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: message to make it illegal and say love it just
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: be gives a warning flag to people. This is a problem,
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: This is a cause of concern.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: How old should a kid be before they get a phone?
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: Oh it's hard to say, isn't it. I'm in an
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: ideal world. Sixteen Yeah, and you've got two years, well us, sixteen,
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: two years of your parents helping you to manage it
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: before you're eighteen and they have to manage it by yourself.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Couldn't agree with you more. Nathan, thank you very much
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: for being with us this morning so early as well.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: Nathan Wallace, parenting expert.
• 2:30
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• 2:33
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• 2:36
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