By Just Ask Maxx
Australia banned social media for kids under 16 last December. The U.K. is planning its own ban by spring 2027. And this summer, Pew Research found that a majority of Americans now support banning social media for kids under 16.
As a mother, I understand why. I also know this: a law can take an app off a phone. It can’t put wisdom in a child.
Whether a ban ever comes to your state or not, there’s a conversation your teenager needs from you, and it can’t wait for Congress.
Why the law isn’t enough
Even in Australia, parents report that many kids are still finding their way onto social media, with fake birthdays and borrowed accounts. Kids are smart. If the only thing standing between your child and harm is a rule, they’ll find a way around it. What actually protects them is what they understand.
The conversation, in five parts
1. “Nothing online is private”
Screenshots last forever. Group chats get forwarded. The message you send at 14 can show up at 24 when you’re applying for a job. Say it plainly, and say it more than once.
2. “Groups can make good people do bad things”
Talk about group chats. Tell them about the recent case at Cornell, where a fraternity group chat allegedly played a part in an assault on a young woman, and roughly fifty young men were in that chat. Ask them: What would you do if someone in your group sent something cruel about a girl? Would you say stop? Practice it. Let them say the words out loud.
3. “Your body is yours, and so is everyone else’s”
Consent isn’t just a college topic. Talk about it with daughters and sons. Nobody is owed a photo. Nobody is owed a yes. And forwarding someone’s private picture is never a joke.
4. “If someone threatens you with a picture, come to me first”
Sextortion is real and it’s hitting teenage boys especially hard: a scammer pretends to be a girl, gets a photo, then demands money. Tell your kids: if it ever happens, you will not be in trouble. Don’t pay. Don’t respond. Come to me. We’ll report it together. Saying that out loud, before it happens, can save a life.
5. “You can always tell me”
This is the one that matters most. Kids hide things when they expect punishment. Make it clear: the thing they’re scared to tell you is the thing you most want to hear.
Make it a habit, not a lecture
One mom I coached, I’ll call her Keisha, started what she calls “car talks.” No eye contact, music low, phones down, a drive to get food. Her son told her more in those drives than in a year of sitting at the kitchen table. Find your version of the car talk.
And set your own example
If we want our kids off their phones at dinner, we have to put ours down too. They’re watching what we do far more closely than what we say.
Need support as a parent? Life Coaching Today has parenting and family coaches available. Find your coach or book a free 15-minute discovery call with Just Ask Maxx. If a child is being threatened with an image, report it at report.cybertip.org or tips.fbi.gov.
Read the book: Red Flags: A Woman’s Survival Guide to Dating in the Manosphere by Kiddada Asmara Grey and Georgia Ann Hunter Jones. Get your copy on Amazon.
Just Ask Maxx is the founder of Life Coaching Today, a Master Relationship Coach, Master Hypnotherapist, Certified NLP Practitioner and Certified Divorce Mediator.
