11 December 2025
American economist Tyler Cowan writes about the educational impact the Australian social media ban for people under the age of sixteen could have:
YouTube in particular, and sometimes X, are among the very best ways to learn about the world. To the extent that the law is effectively enforced, targeting YouTube will have a terrible effect on youth science, and the ability of young scientists and founders to get their projects off the ground will take a huge and possibly fatal hit. If you are only allowed to learn from the internet at age 16, you are probably not ready for marvelous achievements at age 18 or perhaps not even at 20. The country may b…
11 December 2025
American economist Tyler Cowan writes about the educational impact the Australian social media ban for people under the age of sixteen could have:
YouTube in particular, and sometimes X, are among the very best ways to learn about the world. To the extent that the law is effectively enforced, targeting YouTube will have a terrible effect on youth science, and the ability of young scientists and founders to get their projects off the ground will take a huge and possibly fatal hit. If you are only allowed to learn from the internet at age 16, you are probably not ready for marvelous achievements at age 18 or perhaps not even at 20. The country may become more mediocre.
No one learns solely from school issue textbooks anymore. Obviously there’s a lot of content on YouTube (and elsewhere of course) that isn’t suitable for all ages (or any age for that matter), but there are some truly valuable resources.
Kurzgesagt, whose educational videos I often link to, is but one example.
Cowan’s full article can be read at The Free Press with an account.
Australia, current affairs, education, social media, technology