Teaching the Next Generation Media Smarts

Many other countries have tried… and failed. A research agency designated to research and recommend the technical options available to do it were contracted last year in anticipation of the ban. Great, we all thought, let’s look at options that change daily and have not been proven to work anywhere else that has tried to implement a country-wide ban. And then government did it - they pulled the trigger on legislation to restrict social media access for under 16s, to be implemented within 12 months (by December 2025), well before any real tech strategy was confirmed. Leaving tech providers and parents wondering ‘well who is making the decision here, will I have to give Meta my child’s birth certificate?’ And as a parent while I agree with the intent, as a techy I remain skeptical about the methodology.

Six months later, we’ve now seen the “interim report” from the national age assurance trials… and, honestly, it’s not a report at all. There’s no technical evaluation, no implementation roadmap, and not much that’s helpful for anyone who actually has to build or manage this stuff. The full findings are still to come—but the deadline isn’t waiting.

That’s a problem. Because tech doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

We’ve Been Here Before

Those of us from the Gen X and elder Millennial crowd were the guinea pigs of the social media era. We casually stumbled through MySpace, Friendster - Bebo anyone?! - and then on into Facebook’s early days somewhere in our 20s and 30s. We shared status updates we now cringe at, and navigated the shift from analogue anonymity to digital permanence. We at least had a head start on ‘adulting’ before we discovered social media at scale. Yet today, we’re juggling the roles of teachers, guardians, and reluctant trend followers, trying to stay ahead of a digital curve that moves faster than even this digital nomad can follow. We know the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of online life - and it’s our job to equip the next generation to handle it responsibly.

But how do we do that without smothering their independence or drowning them in rules?

Confession: I forged a fake ID once…

When I was 15 I remember painstakingly forging my birth certificate so I could get into the local over-16s nightclub. It involved a photocopier, old school typewriter and some tippex but it looked pretty damn amazing, and most importantly (to me) it worked. The wonders of ‘mature experiences’ awaited just on the other side of that sticky-carpeted foyer….

That memory comes back to me a lot in this debate. Because the tech may have changed, but the instinct hasn’t. Kids will always find a way to get around rules. And today, that workaround is as simple as lying about your birth year on a sign-up form.

As a parent myself, I don’t exactly trust the likes of Meta and other big organisations with a copy of my child’s identification (which could be their birth certificate, Medicare card etc). Some of the new age assurance methods like behavioural profiling, mobile carrier verification, or facial age detection offer more rigour. But they also raise big questions around privacy, data collection, accessibility, and fairness. (I’ve tried facial verification tools myself, and let’s just say I didn’t pass either.)

The government’s interim statement basically confirmed this: every method trialled had trade-offs. None solved for privacy, accuracy, accessibility and inclusion all at once. So we're still nowhere near a clear answer.

So what now?

In the absence of a definitive solution, app stores are shifting the burden onto developers, many of whom are now lobbying to be excluded from the list of mandated platforms, and others - like Youtube - trying to convince us they’re not a social media platform at all (despite it’s very social-media driven Shorts feature and commenting functions that mirror other social media apps). The same risks apply, regardless of branding. We can’t keep waiting for perfect tech to save us, and we can’t assume that bans alone will meaningfully change behaviour.

The bigger opportunity, the one we’re still not talking about enough, is education.

We need to be teaching kids from the youngest possible age how to spot misinformation, how algorithms shape what they see, how platforms are designed to hook their attention, and how to think critically about the content they scroll through. It’s about digital literacy as a life skill. And they need to know this from as early as we can get them - as soon as they can read and understand what’s in front of them.

That’s why I was genuinely excited to see that media literacy is finally being embedded into the national civics curriculum. It’s long overdue, and a huge step in the right direction. But we need to make sure it’s not just policy on paper, we need the tools, programs and investment to bring it to life.

Enter Newshounds: A Modern Solution

The Newshounds program from the team at Squiz Kids is a media literacy program designed for primary school students, and one I’ve been lucky enough to work on with our crew at Miroma Project Factory.

It’s playful, engaging and age-appropriate. Kids complete interactive lessons where they evaluate headlines, learn to identify fake news, and even debate the ethics of reporting. It’s gamified and classroom-ready, and it genuinely helps teachers turn media literacy from a one-off lesson into an ongoing conversation.

We built Newshounds not as a reaction to bans, but as a proactive way to empower kids with the skills they need before they hit social platforms. It’s not about fear, it’s about confidence and capability.

The Takeaway

Age verification and duty-of-care legislation are important steps, but they’re just the start. If we want to truly protect kids, we need to invest in their education - teaching them how to use technology responsibly, think critically, and understand the power and pitfalls of the digital world.

As parents, educators, and developers, we carry the responsibility of preparing the next generation for the challenges we never saw coming. Programs like Newshounds are a vital part of that journey, and we’re proud to be part of the solution.

If you’re working in education, youth policy or tech and want to talk more about what digital resilience could really look like, I’d love to chat.