Online engagement is important and increasing in the lives of Gen Z. They have the benefit of facilitating social connection and providing support, particularly for people with autism who may be more comfortable interacting online.

Nonetheless, there is renewed concern about screen time on teenager's mental health.

According to the Australian eSafety Commissioner's cyber bullying scheme, one in five children were bullied while playing online games.

Following research from the Australian Institute of Family Studies, there are a quarter of teens who have now become victims of cyberbullying, in the form of threats, harassment and humiliation.

Whistleblower Frances Haugen also placed more pressure on the tech giants, revealing how the company's research showed Instagram could harm children.

What is being done to create a safer platform for children?

The Australian eSafety Commission introduced safeguards for children, such as the ability to report serious threats and intimidation to the eSafety Committee. The media platforms on which the threats were reported face more pressure and have only 24 hours to respond before the issue is escalated. If the platform fails to respond appropriately, the Commission can impose court - ordered injunctions against online bullies and civil penalties.

The efforts seem promising. However, there are still not enough watchdogs. To make the social media experience more positive, this will require a collective effort from tech companies, adolescents and parents. More in-person friendships need to be encouraged. Children need to seek help when they need it.

Keywords

• Whistleblower: someone with insider knowledge

• renewed: brought back

• facilitate: make easier

• interact: get along with

• safeguards: protections, shields, barriers

• escalated: taken further to become more serious

• collective: joined

• watchdogs: monitor behaviours

Questions

1) Choose some keywords to construct new sentences.

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2) Why is there renewed concern about screen time?

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3) What is the Australian eSafety Commission doing to reduce bullying levels?

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4) What can families and parents do to reduce bulling levels?

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5) Use the connectives highlighted in green to build your own sentences.

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