Will Australian children regain their childhood?

From the common scenario that we witness every day in India, of babies two years or lesser, scrolling mobiles with their little fingers, being shown videos so that their parents can feed them meals in peace; to an extraordinary step taken by the Australian government to ban social media for under-16 children that came into effect on 10 December, 2025—the contrast is striking. It’s worth noting that the government went through the process of public consultation, wherein over 75% parents in Australia gave a nod to the ban.

Australia’s Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, sets 16 years as the minimum age for having an account on major social media platforms in Australia. Under the new law, children under 16 can still view publicly available social media content that does not require an account, and most standalone gaming, messaging, health and education apps remain unaffected. Interestingly, the social media companies will now face fines of up to $49.5 million (Australian) dollars if they fail to take reasonable steps to prevent under-16s from creating or maintaining accounts.

A mobile phone in the hands of young primary and secondary school children in India, particularly in urban areas, has created mayhem. Most of the disciplinary quarrels between the parent and child revolves around the use, misuse, abuse of social media apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Study time has dipped, concentration on text books has plunged, the newfound freedom that comes from posts of social influencers (idols of teenagers over and above their parents) has derailed family interaction; withdrawal from social circuit (as conversations of friends are more through WhatsApp or Instagram); gaming apps are aplenty, bountifully occupying the time of children; and binging on processed food, as that’s the best way to enjoy online apps—has all led to health issues besides family and social nuisance.

Let me visualise the transformation of under-16 children in Australia, personally, socially and nationally, with reference to our childhood when it was an era of a landline telephone, not-for-easy use for us as it was the bastion of our bread-winner father. Surely, their eyes will wean off from an instrument to that of a human being – peers and parents. Conversations in real time would occupy more space and inter-personal connectivity would thereby get a boost. Knowledge would come from the real researched words – found in textbooks and entertainment and visualisation would come from reading fiction, non-fiction and self-help books. Chatter and laughter would ring in unison like a chorus instead of a singular response to the instrument’s post. Family time during meals and weekends would take the form of real-time joy, cheer and happiness. Sports, even country games would take precedence, thereby leading to better health of the upcoming future generation.

There seem so many betterments to this radical change, but the question is, will every family see this as a positive change? Will this be treated as repression of materialistic pleasure and digital innovation that needs to be seen by children? The answer perhaps lies in the way the Australian government, parents and children would handle this revolutionary change. Will they become trend setters or become a bad example of a law that could be termed as Utopian?