[Op-ed piece offered to newspapers in the January ‘back-to-school’ cycle. This piece was not taken-up in this short form, but expanded into a longer piece for The Point]

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Students returning to school in a few weeks’ time face a number of new and unfamiliar challenges – one of which will be navigating their first school year under Australia’s new social media ban.

If the hype is to be believed, then the students of 2026 should be returning to school fully refreshed, de-stressed and newly energised after a screen-free summer spent on footy fields and netball courts.

However, in reality the effects of the ban are likely to be far more mixed. Concerns have long been raised over the likely negative impact for young people reliant on online friendship groups and support communities. Research shows that children who are already in some way marginalised find support and community online.

There are also valid concerns over children being pushed onto more harmful niche platforms and corners of the internet not covered by the ban.

Alongside these issues, however, are the possible educational harms that the ban is likely to cause.

While tending to be overshadowed by discussions of possible impacts on young people’s mental health and social wellbeing, the educational consequences of young people now not being able to have social media accounts need to be taken seriously. 

The COVID school shutdowns highlighted a range of educationally-innovative ways that young people engage with social media to support their schooling – from WhatsApp study groups through to Instagram tutorials and YouTube masterclasses.

Alongside these, are various ways that social media support young people’s informal learning outside of school – from TikTok book clubs through to online communities coming together to collectively learn everything from medieval history to computer coding.

Social media have long been a powerful – and surprisingly helpful  – way that young people learn about politics, healthcare and many important aspects of adult life.

We know from twenty years of research that social media can play a key role in helping children and young people make powerful connections with communities of their peers eager to learn – often on a global basis. 

Some of the most powerful ways of learning involve creating social media content and engaging in online communities of like-minded creators.

All told, platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram have all proven to be powerful ways that many young people have become accustomed to engaging in learning.

This is not to deny the incredibly harmful aspects of excessive social media use, and the need for the worst Big Tech business practices to be regulated.

Yet, as educators, we can see clear ways in which the social media ban might well  impact negatively on these educational practices over the next few years.

As such, over the next few months, it is important that  parents and teachers remain mindful of these sudden gaps in how their children and students are able to learn. 

It is important that teachers and parents talk with young people about how they are coping with the loss of these familiar sources of educational support.

We need to remain aware that some young people might well be feeling disconnected from their familiar and trusted sources of learning, and strive to support young people to find these connections in other ways.

The long-term impacts of the social media ban are clearly going to be mixed – it is important that we pay close attention to how young people’s educational engagement and capacity to learn is being affected … for better and for worse.