Latest / Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families / #1132 - This Week in Parenting: Woolies x Roblox & Fully Nic-Sick

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#1132 - This Week in Parenting: Woolies x Roblox & Fully Nic-Sick · Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: It's the Happy Families podcast.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: It's the podcast for the time poor parent who just
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: wants answers Now.
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  Speaker 1: One of my favorite episodes each month is this Week
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: in Parenting.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Bombomb.
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  Speaker 1: You're rolling your eyes at me. You think that I'm
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: a bit cheesy about this one, dn't you?
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  Speaker 2: Yep?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks so much. Guess what, though? Do you remember
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: what happened last month when I tried to do This
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Week in Parenting? Anyway, We've been talking way too long.
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  Speaker 1: There are six stories. I don't think we're going to
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  Speaker 1: have time for all them all because we've done three
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: and our time is almost up. I reckon, we need
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: to call it quits.
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  Speaker 2: There you decided to add about I don't know, fifty
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  Speaker 2: bajillion stories into one episode.
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  Speaker 1: I tried to squeeze six stories into one episode.
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  Speaker 2: We did get there, did we know?
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  Speaker 1: We had to stretch it out over to maybe three episodes?
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  Speaker 1: But git was fun. Today I've learned my lesson, missus
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  Speaker 1: Happy Families. Really ask me how many stories?
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  Speaker 2: How many stories are we doing today?
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  Speaker 1: Three stories?
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  Speaker 2: Three?
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  Speaker 1: What about teenagers? One about social media? And what about
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  Speaker 1: Oh there's more roadblocks news. There's more roadblocks news. So
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  Speaker 1: let's kick off which one are we starting with?
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  Speaker 2: That's two Roadblocks.
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  Speaker 1: Should Wilworth end their partnership with Roadblocks. The Supermarket Giant
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  Speaker 1: is on fire today for child's safety concerns because of
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  Speaker 1: their latest promotion running with Roadblocks. Basically, if you've disappeared
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  Speaker 1: in all of the news court papers. Over the last
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  Speaker 1: couple of weeks, thousands of furious Australians have slammed Warworths
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  Speaker 1: for partnering with controversial multi billion dollar gaming platform Roadblocks
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  Speaker 1: that has exposed some children to harmful content. The Supermarket
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  Speaker 1: Giant introduced Roadblocks rewards to give customers over the age
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  Speaker 1: of eighteen a chance to win every week a share
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  Speaker 1: of one hundred million Roebucks. Roebucks, as you would know, Kylie,
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  Speaker 1: because I know that you love Roadblocks so much, is
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  Speaker 1: a virtual currency used on the app to purchase avatars
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  Speaker 1: and special abilities in the game.
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  Speaker 2: Emily was critiquing our Roadblocks episode a few weeks back, really,
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  Speaker 2: and she got very angry at me because I said
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  Speaker 2: Roadblocks money instead of Robucks.
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  Speaker 1: That's what happens when you've got a ten year old
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  Speaker 1: who desperately wants to have what we are saying no,
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  Speaker 1: So there is a change dot org petition that's been
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  Speaker 1: created that's garnered thousands and thousands of signatures calling for
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  Speaker 1: the supermarket giant and its collaboration with the quote unquote
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  Speaker 1: harmful app Worth. Highlighting last year, the Australian Federal Police
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  Speaker 1: said the children as young as twelve are being targeted
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  Speaker 1: by extremists who are infiltrating online gaming platforms including Roadblocks,
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  Speaker 1: with a rising number of children being investigated for radicalized
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  Speaker 1: ideologies as well as that we know the Roadblocks is
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  Speaker 1: a pedophilic healthscape where people are genuinely getting on there
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  Speaker 1: and targeting children at scale and trying to move them
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  Speaker 1: off that platform onto encrypted platforms so that they can
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  Speaker 1: be exploited in other ways. It's just a bad idea.
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  Speaker 2: It just really intrigues me. I mean all of the
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  Speaker 2: things that they've done previous have been targeted at children. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: and all of a sudden we need to, I don't know,
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  Speaker 2: give over eighteen's a bonus.
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  Speaker 1: This This is nuts.
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't make sense to me, knowing full well that
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  Speaker 2: you're going to have children of every age in interested
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  Speaker 2: in wanting whatever's on offer.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it blows me away. I feel I feel like
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  Speaker 1: Woolworth's I'm not that this is a kind of a
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  Speaker 1: corporate slam here, because I'm not that guy. But I
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  Speaker 1: feel like Wilworth has made some really big missteps lately.
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  Speaker 1: They won't do Australia Day kind of paraphernalia because it's
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  Speaker 1: terrible for the environment. They're happy to do Halloween, by
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  Speaker 1: the way, which is I reckon even worse for the environment.
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  Speaker 1: And now I think it's just a giant misstep on
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  Speaker 1: their part. But of course this means that every parent
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  Speaker 1: is going to be subject to the pester power of
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  Speaker 1: their children, who are saying, can I can, I can?
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  Speaker 1: I I want, I want, I want. Let's go shopping
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  Speaker 1: there because I can get some robucks so that I
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  Speaker 1: can jump online.
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  Speaker 2: And I guess Cole's is going to have an influx
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  Speaker 2: of fum.
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  Speaker 1: Parent Cole's, IgA and Aldi are saying, keep it up.
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  Speaker 1: All these just keep doing their there's a great Pharents
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  Speaker 1: are like, let's go anywhere, but war wors Oh my goodness,
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  Speaker 1: what story number two.
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  Speaker 3: They're known as ss zin's or nicotine pouches, and up
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  Speaker 3: to one in four young Aussies have used them since
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  Speaker 3: the recent crackdown on vapes. That's according to a survey
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  Speaker 3: from the University of Melbourne.
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  Speaker 1: This one showed up on the ABC a couple of
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  Speaker 1: weeks ago and it caught my attention because, oh my goodness,
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  Speaker 1: these tobacco giants. Smoking is on the decline, and it
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  Speaker 1: has been for a long time. It's a good news story, right,
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  Speaker 1: But they keep on finding new ways to get product
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  Speaker 1: into the hands of our young people. We've got vapes
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  Speaker 1: illegally being sold all over the place. There's all sorts
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  Speaker 1: of issues going on with vapes. Nicotine in vapes is
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  Speaker 1: just so toxic. But what also seems to be making
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  Speaker 1: its way into adolescent's hands are these things called nicotine pouches.
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  Speaker 1: There's a nicotine product that is even harder to detect.
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  Speaker 1: They're known as zin's or snuffs or ziz call them
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  Speaker 1: what you will. Increasingly researchers are finding that teenagers are
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  Speaker 1: getting hold of these things. They're very, very very easy
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  Speaker 1: to procure on social media despite the restrictions on buying
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  Speaker 1: and selling them. Essentially, the way these things work is
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  Speaker 1: you've got a little pouch. It's very very small. It
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  Speaker 1: fits easily inside your lip, like imagine something about the
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  Speaker 1: size of a piece of chewing gum. You just stick
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  Speaker 1: it up there inside you. I'm doing it now like
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  Speaker 1: as if people can see I'm doing on the podcast.
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  Speaker 1: I've got my fingers in my mouth. That's why it
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  Speaker 1: sounds so weird. But you stick this nictein pouch. It's discrete,
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  Speaker 1: it's available in a whole lot of flavors. You stick
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  Speaker 1: it inside your lip against your gum and suck away.
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  Speaker 1: Super addictive being sold legally by tobacconists. Teenagers think they're
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  Speaker 1: the best. They'd much rather use these nictein pouches than
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  Speaker 1: vapor or smoke.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I'm going to assume there's not a lot of
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  Speaker 2: smell to them either, are they.
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  Speaker 1: That's exactly right, Very easy.
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  Speaker 2: To get the hit without being detected.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. So if someone's got nicotine cravings, are addicted to vabes,
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  Speaker 1: or just because they feel like sticking something in their mouth,
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  Speaker 1: nicotine pouches seem to be filling that gap. The nictin industry.
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  Speaker 1: It just keeps on finding ways to work around the
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  Speaker 1: law and get these products into the hands and the
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  Speaker 1: mouths and the lungs and the blood streams of young people.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, they're just so duplicitous, they're so mendacious and
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  Speaker 1: they're doing it so successfully. It's just unbelievable how much
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  Speaker 1: it's happening. Just to emphasize nicotine pouches are banned from
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  Speaker 1: sale in Australia, but social media so easy to get
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  Speaker 1: it out there. And they are harmful. They are bad
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  Speaker 1: for our kids, and if you've got teenagers, you probably
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  Speaker 1: want to talk to them about it, because your teenagers
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  Speaker 1: will know what it means to get nixick nixic meaning
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  Speaker 1: nicotine sick. The pouches deliver this high impact nicotine and
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  Speaker 1: they end up feeling really crooked and up feeling like
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  Speaker 1: they're going to pass out. That is this week in parenting.
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  Speaker 2: Now what's not You said there were three stories? Oh,
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  Speaker 2: what's your last story?
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  Speaker 1: So the last story is everywhere and it has been
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  Speaker 1: for a couple of months now, and I'm so glad
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  Speaker 1: the conversation about do we or don't we make social
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  Speaker 1: media band for kids under the age of sixteen.
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  Speaker 2: For too many younger strains, social media can be harmful.
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  Speaker 1: The federal government introducing a bold bill to block kids
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  Speaker 1: under sixteen from online arts.
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  Speaker 3: I commend the bill to the House.
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  Speaker 1: We've got the opposition and we've got the federal government
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  Speaker 1: both working towards passing legislation by the end of the year,
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  Speaker 1: and it looks like this might go ahead.
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  Speaker 2: A couple of things going through my mind. Number one,
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  Speaker 2: who in the right mind would be against this? But secondly,
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  Speaker 2: how do they police this?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah? These are really really challenging and big questions. First
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  Speaker 1: of all, who would be against it? There are some
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  Speaker 1: real privacy issues around this, and I have previously said
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  Speaker 1: all of the civil libertarians who had just been annoying
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  Speaker 1: and saying well privacy, Trump's children's safety. The privacy issues
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  Speaker 1: are pretty big. See, if you're going to have to
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  Speaker 1: demonstrate that you are who you say you are, that
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  Speaker 1: means that literally every Australian who use the social media
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  Speaker 1: is going to have to divulge their information to whatever platform,
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  Speaker 1: whatever system that the government sets up to make sure
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  Speaker 1: that this works. They haven't worked out the intricacy of it.
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  Speaker 1: They haven't worked this out yet, but there are definitely
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  Speaker 1: privacy issues, and I think it's fair enough in that
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  Speaker 1: a lot of adults want to be able to keep
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  Speaker 1: what they're doing and who they are away from the
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  Speaker 1: eyes of the government. It's not they're doing anything the
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  Speaker 1: farious or negative. It's just that they want the government
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  Speaker 1: out of their lives, and I understand that I actually
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  Speaker 1: feel reasonably the same way. Having said that, the advantages
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  Speaker 1: to keeping our children safe are greater. The second issue
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  Speaker 1: that I would highlight that's making people question whether it
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  Speaker 1: is or is not a good idea is that there
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  Speaker 1: are minority groups, There are people with additional needs. There
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  Speaker 1: are challenged groups who find a certain level of safety
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  Speaker 1: and community and peace and goodness in their lives by
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  Speaker 1: being able to access one another on social media. And
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  Speaker 1: quite often when children are impressionable and young and they're
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  Speaker 1: under the age of sixteen, they want those groups to
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  Speaker 1: support them as they deal with the challenges that they face. Now,
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  Speaker 1: I want to be really upfront and highlight that some
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  Speaker 1: of these groups are toxic and they're giving our children
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  Speaker 1: really bad ideas. But there are many kids who find
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  Speaker 1: refuge and safety online, and if they're copying it, if
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  Speaker 1: they're really struggling in their lives, sometimes the online world,
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  Speaker 1: the online social media world, can be a place of
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  Speaker 1: refuge and safety for them. I would say there's more
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  Speaker 1: downside to upside, but I need to acknowledge that for
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  Speaker 1: some kids it is their salvation in terms of the
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  Speaker 1: policing that you've raised. This is a really tricky one. See.
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  Speaker 1: I don't think that it's appropriate or fair in any
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  Speaker 1: way for parents to be cuted off to court or
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  Speaker 1: charged or fined if their kids are on social media.
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  Speaker 1: It is a parenting issue, by the way. It is
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  Speaker 1: a parenting issue. But I think that the social media
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  Speaker 1: company are the ones who need to make sure that
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  Speaker 1: they are not letting people online who should not be there.
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  Speaker 1: I think that it should be on them, and I
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  Speaker 1: think the findes need to be massive so that it's
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  Speaker 1: a real need of the groin, Like it makes them
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  Speaker 1: double over in pain if they allow kids to get
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  Speaker 1: access to something that they're not old enough for and
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  Speaker 1: that they shouldn't be getting access to.
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  Speaker 2: I think about the three stories we've spoken about specifically today,
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  Speaker 2: roadblocks with woollies, you know, handouts and nicotine pouches, and
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  Speaker 2: now we're talking about social media, and I just keep
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  Speaker 2: going back to this idea that it takes a village
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  Speaker 2: to grow a child, and when our village, if we're
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  Speaker 2: not all on the same page, it's so much harder
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  Speaker 2: as a parent feeling like you are doing it all alone.
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  Speaker 1: When legislation comes through, it makes it much easier for
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  Speaker 1: every parent to say, you know what, kiddo, it's the law.
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  Speaker 1: You've just got a way too. You're sixteen. And if
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  Speaker 1: they can set up a system that is I mean,
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  Speaker 1: you're never going to set up a full proof system.
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  Speaker 1: Right under eighteen still get access to alcohol. Yeah, since
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: drivers still drive vehicles, there are kids that get into
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: casinos or nightclubs who shouldn't be in there. This stuff
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: will still happen, but it reduces the likelihood of it enormously.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: One really big concern is Snapchat reckons they're going to
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  Speaker 1: get out of anything into the definition of social media matters.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: Here Snapchat is saying we're not a social media app,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: We're actually a messaging app. Right, So they're going to
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: have to get their definitions really really tight. The legislation
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: is going to have to be extremely, extremely good. But ultimately,
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: if they can do it well, and if they can
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: address the privacy concerns that reasonable adults have around this
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: without being crazy about it, I think that this will
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: be a really really good thing. And it's it's so good.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: It's so good to actually say something nice about the
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  Speaker 1: government because frankly, I think they've been feckless until this point.
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  Speaker 1: But the fact that they're working on this. If they
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  Speaker 1: can get this legislation right, this will be a massive
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: positive for well, we've blown a couple of generations, really,
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  Speaker 1: but it'll be a massive positive for few generations.
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  Speaker 2: Do you really think they can do it?
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  Speaker 1: No? No, I actually don't. And even if they do,
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  Speaker 1: they'll be challenges from social media companies in the courts,
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  Speaker 1: and there will also be years taken to develop the
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: infrastructure and the technology to make this all work. And
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: there will be teething problems and there'll be all sorts
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: of issues. It's going to take years for it to
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  Speaker 1: get through. But gee, I hope they can. I'm optimistic
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  Speaker 1: because I know that there is a ground swell from
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: the bottom up moving in this direction. I'm not optimistic
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: because I have so little faith in the broader political
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: movements that we have. Nevertheless, we cross our fingers and
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: we hope because I think it'll be a good thing
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: for our children if we can address those concerns effectively. Kylie,
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: guess what three stories and we've done it on time?
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  Speaker 1: Wow this week in parenting. We'll be back next year.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: Because the best sentence I think.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: We're almost ready for a break. It's getting closed a
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: couple of weeks. The podcast you know what tomorrow, It's
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: all do better tomorrow on the pod can't wait to
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: share with you some news that's happening in our world.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: And then did you know that next week it's December
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: and we're going to start talking Christmassy stuff and all
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: the things that you need to know to prepare for
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: a wonderful summer holiday. Can't wait to see you again
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: tomorrow or talk to you again tomorrow on the Happy
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: Families podcast, which is produced by Justin Verland from Bridge Media.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: For more info about making your family happier, all of
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: our resources are at happy families dot com dot au