Frankie Bridge talks internet safety and The Wild Robot

National World - LocalTV

Australia is planning to ban social media for all children under the age of 16. If the ban were to be passed, it would make Australia the first country in the world to impose such a rule. Their Government have said it is acting to guarantee children’s safety online. Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the plans were aimed to reduce the harm social media can have on children.  Though, critics have argued that it would be better to instead bring in appropriate safety standards on social media platforms. On the other hand, supporters of the plans say that the ban is needed in order to protect children from bullying, fake news, and harmful content.

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00:00I think it'd be really nice for kids not to go on it until they're 16. I think it would

00:06just be really lovely for them to not really have to deal with it as a part of their life.

00:12But I also think they'll find a way. I think there's ways for people to sign up even when

00:19they're not the right age and to get accounts and stuff like that. So I think the safest

00:25thing is to kind of have conversations with them about it. And like you say, wean them

00:30into it maybe. Yes, 16 would be a really great starting point. But before that, we have to

00:35be having these conversations with them about what's right and wrong, what to expect on

00:40there. And obviously, it all has to be age appropriate. But I think the more that we

00:44can have these open conversations with them, the more likely they are going to come to

00:48us and say, oh, I've seen this thing that I didn't really like, or someone said something

00:52that made me feel uncomfortable and I didn't know how to deal with it.

00:55Research by the communications regulator Ofcom has suggested that children aged 8-17

01:01spend between 2 and 5 hours per day online. It was further reported that time spent online

01:06increases with age, and that nearly every child in the UK over 12 has a mobile phone,

01:11with which they frequent watching videos on platforms such as YouTube and TikTok.

01:16You're Camille in The Wild Robot. Navigating parenting in the online world, how do you

01:22think that that film kind of has a similar message?

01:28It revolves around people being different and acceptance. And also, like you said, technology

01:35and the natural world and stuff. It's like Ros, the robot, is trying to navigate a world

01:40with natural animals and natural elements. Metaphorically, our lives in a way, and that

01:46we have all this amazing technology and the internet is great and social media is great.

01:52But there is also this really difficult side of trying to insert it into our lives and

01:57making it work for us.

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