People First Radio – December 05, 2024People First Radio – December 05, 2024
People First Radio
Experts and community leaders discuss youth social media restrictions, more intentional online habits, and grant-funded projects that support youth resilience and trade workers’ wellbeing. The episode also highlights how disability, poverty and housing conditions intersect with mental health and addiction risk.
0:00•6 Dec 2024
Social Media Bans, Youth Resilience Grants, and Real-World Supports for Mental Health
Episode Overview
- Australia’s youth social media restrictions focus on age‑restricted platforms and raise major questions about age verification, privacy and the role of tech companies.
- Digital duty of care laws may reduce harmful content for everyone by obliging platforms to remove abuse, adjust algorithms and respond transparently to user complaints.
- A Canadian study suggests both abstaining from social media and using it more intentionally can improve mental health for young adults who already feel its negative impact.
- Island Health’s youth resilience grants support new, one‑year projects that help young people connect with supportive adults, build skills and feel a stronger sense of belonging.
- People with disabilities, especially women, face higher rates of financial strain, unsafe housing and homelessness, underscoring how inequality shapes mental health outcomes.
“We can’t really just shut the door, pretend that harmful content goes away simply because kids are not looking at their device.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey, parenting worries, and digital overload all at once? This edition of People First Radio brings together experts and community voices to unpack how social media, youth resilience, and structural barriers shape mental health. First up, professor Lisa Given breaks down Australia’s new rules restricting under-16s from opening accounts on age‑restricted social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
She explains the messy details of age verification, why facial recognition and ID checks worry many people, and how a broader “digital duty of care” for tech companies might protect everyone, not just kids.
As she puts it, “We can’t really just shut the door, pretend that harmful content goes away simply because kids are not looking at their device.” From there, psychologist Amori Mikami walks through a Canadian study on using social media more intentionally rather than quitting it completely. Young adults with existing mental health concerns tried either abstaining from social media or following “tips and tricks” to use it more thoughtfully.
Both groups fared better than those who carried on as usual, hinting that smarter habits can sometimes rival cold‑turkey breaks. You’ll hear simple, practical ideas like asking yourself, “Why am I checking?” before you start another doom scroll. The focus then turns to community-based support. Dr. Di Hoyano from Island Health outlines a youth resilience grant programme offering up to $50,000 for new, one‑year projects that connect young people with supportive adults, culture, skills and community.
Grant recipient Becky Thiessen shares how Literacy Central Vancouver Island used earlier funding to pilot a highly personalised trade skills programme for men in the trades, aiming to reduce overdose and substance‑related harm by building literacy, mentoring and practical life skills. Finally, Carleen Mcginty highlights sobering data on how people with disabilities in Canada face higher rates of poverty, unsafe housing and homelessness, especially women.
It’s a reminder that mental health and addiction recovery don’t happen in a vacuum—housing, income and community all matter. Which piece of this conversation feels most urgent for you right now?
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