The outstanding annual student event My Vote My Voice, conducted by the National Council of Women of Victoria, was held in the Legislative Council Chamber of Parliament House Melbourne on Friday August 9th 2024, 9:00am-12:30pm.
Keynote Speakers: Meena Singh, Commissioner for Aboriginal Children &Young People; Missi Joyce, Youth Council.
Students from 12 government and independent schools addressed the topic: Social Media – A Blessing or a Curse, designed to encourage students to consider the effect of Social Media on themselves, their peers and the wider community.
The schools were: MacRobertson Girls HS; Rosehill SC; Al Siraat College; Jiayuan Charity; Kingswood College; Beaumaris SC; Camberwell HS; Star of the Sea College; Melbourne Girls Grammar; Elwood College; Firbank Grammar; Ivanhoe Girls.
Meena’s speaking notes
Thank you for that introduction.
Before I begin, I’ll take a moment to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land we are meeting on, the lands of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present and acknowledge wherever we are on this continent known as Australia, a continent of hundreds of countries, we are on lands over which sovereignty was never ceded.
I make this acknowledgement as part of my own cultural protocols as a Yorta Yorta woman on my mother’s side, and out of respect as an Indian woman on my father’s side.
Thank you so much for having me today. I am certain both my parent’s ancestors did not envisage me in a place like this!
In doing my research about the National Council of Women Victoria, I was delighted to see that in the first ever congress in 1903, there was a focus on children’s rights. And I see that for over 100 years, you have championed the rights of the most vulnerable people in this state through the inclusion of women’s and children’s voices.
Thank you for your work, and my goodness I love trailblazing women!
I’m the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People, and I work alongside the Principal Commissioner Liana Buchanan at the Commission for Children and Young People.
The Commission is an independent statutory body that is focussed on the safety and wellbeing of children and young people in Victoria.
We do this in a few ways:
- We monitor spaces where children and young people are vulnerable. This includes children and young people who are in out of home care and youth justice detention centres.
- We give advice to the government about their laws and policies impact on children and young people, and we encourage them to take your views into account.
- We also require organisations where children and young people go to learn, to play sport, to practice their culture or religions, to get services, anywhere, we required those places to be child safe organisations, where children and young people can be themselves, feel safe, and are free from abuse and harm. And, if for some reason abuse or harm happens, we require organisations to respond in the appropriate way for the individual child or young person, and so it doesn’t happen again.
We do all this work with input from our Youth Council, a group of clever, brave and talented children and young people with a wide range of life experiences who give us advice on how we make sure their voice is reflected in the advocacy we do. They challenge us, they make us think differently, and they make the Commission work better for children and young people.
Sometimes the best way to do that is for the two Commissioners to step aside, and just let young people talk. And soon, I look forward to hearing from you all on this important issue.
But first…
Social media – a blessing or a curse?
The proposed ban on social media that has been in… social media for the last few months is such an interesting response to the challenges that social media presents.
And social media does present challenges and there are concerns we should absolutely be worried about.
We hear about horrible bullying and vilification of every kind (ablism, racism, religious persecution, homophobia, transphobia, body shaming, you name it) from keyboard warriors who are embolded by their handled ‘idiots-are-us’. (As a golden rule, I try not to read the comments section, but sometimes…).
We see children and young people’s privacy being breached when parents and care givers post their images and information online without their consent. At what age can a child give consent to be put online?
And at possibly the worst end of the scale, we know about adults with ill intentions using social media to get at children and young people, virtually and then physically.
Because I’m a person who cares about the most vulnerable people in her community, I am passionate an about keeping children and young people safe, physically and online. Because I am a commissioner, I have tools to go about ensuring this, such as the Child Safe Standards.
But does a complete ban on social media deal with these issues, or does it just push the issue further down the track, and leave young people, at the age of 16, to suddenly be exposed to a whole new means of communication but with very little by way of understanding how to navigate it?
And, does a ban mean that we rob children and young people of the things that are brilliant about social media? The things that are worth protecting?
I’m clearly not a young person, but I use social media every single day. And I love it.
I get information, far more quickly, than I can from websites or print media, and from a range of sources that are not available to me in other formats. I learn about lives that are so very different to mine, people displaying resilience in the face of oppression and hatred, and I am reminded of our connected humanity.
I discover amazingly talented people – creators, artists, musicians, athletes, thinkers, dancers – and I marvel at their skills and think how lucky we are to live in a world where their talent can be shared with others.
I connect with family and friends, from across the street to across the world. I meet new friends, new dogs, cats and watch endless videos of baby animals or kids doing the funnies things as they navigate and make sense of this world.
I find networks of support – complete strangers raising others up, wishing each other ‘one more day’, ‘stay with us’, ‘you’ve got this’, ‘we’re here for you’.
With social media, I can choose my own adventure. I have learnt how to protect what I share, to block and disengage with people who are simply not good people, I take a break every now and then to recharge.
I cannot for a second imagine someone saying to me we’re going to take this away from you, this tool that allows you so much, because of some bad people.
Because social media is a tool through which we carry out interpersonal connections and interactions. And behind each of these interpersonal connections and interactions is a set of ethics, of values that shape how we behave and how we treat each other. And for me, that is what we should be focussed on when we talk about making social media safe for children and young people.
And we must be serious about punishing those people who make it unsafe for children and young people and restricting their access to social media.
Because, to my ears, the ban sounds a little too much like victim blaming. It pushes the issue down the road and doesn’t deal with the problems.
It also denies the agency of children and young people to make informed decisions about how they use these tools. Just as children and young people should have information to make appropriate decisions about drug and alcohol use, about sexual activity, about a whole range of other important issues.
When I was preparing for this piece, I asked our Youth Council members to share some of their thoughts on the ban. I want to read just one of the responses:
Instead of a ban, I think a better approach would be to provide education on safe and responsible use of social media, along with parental guidance and age-appropriate restrictions. This way, young people can learn to navigate social media safely and responsibly from an early age, minimising the potential risks while still reaping the benefits.
I truly could not say it better.
What I don’t hear in this issue, this debate, is the voices of children and young people. Too many decisions are made with the very old (and outdated) idea that children should be seen, not heard.
I’m very much looking forward to hearing you all have a say on an issue that you absolutely must be heard on.
Thank you again for having me, and for your time. ---------
Missi then spoke of her experiences after leaving home. Her siblings were broken up, so needed to keep in touch via social media, support each other. She also stated that young people need to make mistakes. If they have no experience of social media, when young and enter the ‘real’ world, they can be vulnerable to the negatives aspects.
Along with connections mentioned, you can find your passion - interest groups with the same focus e.g. music.
Students presentations followed. Some groups had carried out research, collected data from their peers and others to gain wider views, to inform presentation of their finding. This year’s students made a valuable contribution to the debate on the effect of Social Media on our young people and society.
