Why we all need to listen to the AFP's social media warning
When my eldest daughter was 14 she had her first negative experience on social media.
Her classmate had left a comment on someone else’s post which negatively reflected on her and she absolutely went to water.
That was ten years ago.
Since then, social media has exploded in ways I could never have imagined, and the challenges young people face online today have escalated far beyond careless comments.
Today, we are staring down the barrel of a crisis that is more pervasive and more damaging to the lives of children than ever before.
If you think this is alarmist, then perhaps hear out what the new boss of the AFP had to say this week.
While addressing the Press Club in Canberra yesterday, Commissioner Krissy Barrett revealed that that men were using online networks to "hunt, stalk and draw in" young girls and coerce them into carrying out serious acts of violence on themselves, their siblings or pets.
The AFP has already identified 59 alleged offenders as being members of "some of these prolific decentralised online crime networks".
This should horrify every single parent in Australia today.
But can we honestly say we’re surprised that we have gotten here?
Social media has been leaving a trail of destruction on children for years now, and some of the stories I have heard in recent times are devastating.
Children being bullied and filmed on Tik Tok and Snapchat; girls as young as 13 editing, filtering and sharing overtly sexualised photos of themselves on Instagram; primary school children viewing graphic images and content online.
Tik Tok, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram … platforms that offer up access to pretty much any content you want, with no regulatory oversight or controls, delivered right into the hands of impressionable children and teenagers.
Two Australians who sadly know too well the devastating impact social media can have on children is Kate and Tick Everett.
Their daughter Dolly was just 14 when she took her own life after relentless online bullying seven years ago.
Since her death, they have campaigned tirelessly for schools to better educate children about safe and respectful online behaviour - efforts that helped prompt mobile phone bans in schools across the country.
Next month, the Federal Government will take it one step further, introducing a nationwide social media ban for under-16s.
It’s a brilliant move, and one that cannot come soon enough.
As parents, we can only do so much to protect our children from the insidious side of the digital world. And anyone raising a teenager knows that’s easier said than done.
Kids can be secretive, and many of these apps are deliberately designed to hide messages and photos.
It all feels overwhelming, frightening, and a bit like losing control.
That’s why any Government safeguards that help shield children from some of the darker corners of the online world should be welcomed by every parent in Australia today.
Because let's face it - the safety of our kids is not negotiable, and as parents we’re fighting a battle we simply cannot win alone.