Teens Told To Go Binge Drink Or Throw Rocks At Abandoned Buildings Like The Rest Of Us Did Before YouTube

TRACEY BENDINGER | Society | Contact

Earlier this week the Australian government announced that YouTube would be included in the world-first social media ban for under 16s. While the ban has been celebrated by some, a large number of youths are now beginning to wonder what they could possibly do in the ‘real world’ with all their free time.

Teens are turning to their parents for inspiration, which, as one Betoota mother is discovering, is not without its faults.

“Sure, we made our own fun as teens. But 90% of that fun centred around drinking cheap champagne on a park bench, then stumbling to an abandoned textile factory to throw rocks through whatever windows we could find” said Kelly Holedale, mother to teen boys Heath and Holden.

“I don’t know if that’s necessarily what I want the boys doing, but I suppose it’s better than them being radicalised by Andrew Tate.”

“Better the devil you know than the algorithm you don’t” she finished.

It’s understood that other parents are in a similar situation, having to reveal to their kids the kind of cowboy antics they got up to in the pre-social media era.

“We’d smoke bongs behind public toilets…I guess we have to weigh up what has more long term psychological effects; hotboxing the still developing brain with THC or social media.”

A quandary indeed, one that the nation’s parents are hoping to work through with the help of the government who implemented the ban. It’s not yet known if the government will offer any further assistance or if they’ll walk away from the situation like a deadbeat dad with an unwanted child.

More to come.