Photo: RNZ
Nearly three quarters of New Zealand adults support a social media ban for children under 14, new research has revealed.
The annual Ipsos Education Monitor surveyed adults in 30 countries about their attitudes to education and young people’s lives.
In New Zealand, 72 percent of the 1000 respondents agreed children under 14 should be banned from social media, which was in line with the global average.
The Ipsos survey also found 44 percent of people believed mental health was the biggest challenge facing young people – significantly higher than the global average of 33 percent.
Ipsos country manager Carin Hercock said there could be a relationship between perceived mental health challenges, and support for a social media ban.
“There is a lot of content online that is majorly disturbing for young New Zealanders, and a lot of parents are concerned about that as well,” she said.
“It sort of makes sense that concerns around mental health are driving into the idea of a social media ban.”
However it was more complex than that, said Hercock, and a social media ban was unlikely to be a “silver bullet” to improving young people’s mental health.
Support for the ban increases with age, with 64 percent of those aged 18-34 likely to agree with the ban, compared with 79 percent of people over 65.
The National Party is working on a law to ban social media for under-16s, which it hopes to pass with the support of either its coalition partners or from across political lines.
In June, RNZ’s Reid Research poll found 58 percent of respondents supported that proposal.
The Ipsos research also revealed nearly half (48 percent) of people believed the ban on cellphones in schools has had a positive impact, and about a quarter (26 percent) said it had made no difference at all.
The survey also found 42 percent of people believe artificial intelligence should be banned in schools, which was “significantly higher” than the 37 percent global average, said Hercock.
“Mistrust of AI tends to be higher in more developed countries,” she said.
“There seems to be a cultural difference around the attitudes towards AI, and it could also be because of the high prevalence of digital fraud … impacting trust for New Zealanders.”
Respondents were fairly split on the state of the education system, with about a third describing it as “poor” while 37 percent said it was “good”.
Other countries held similarly mixed views, Hercock said.
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