Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin says two local high school students will be attending the Social Media summit being held in Sydney today.
The summit, to be jointly hosted by the NSW government and the government of South Australia, is bringing together international and national experts, policy makers, young people and community voices to discuss strategies to combat the negative impacts of social media.
It has been organised in response to increasing concerns about the harmful effects of social media on young people, including exposure to inappropriate and illegal content, cyberbullying, and negative impacts on their mental health and development.
Ahead of the summit, Ms Saffin met with two local students who will be attending: Fareeha Anjim, Year 10 Student at Blue Hills College who was one of the winners of the ABC Takeover program this year, and Jesse Alexander-Gordon, Year 12 Student from Trinity Catholic College who is a member of the NSW Youth Advisory Council.
‘Fareeha supports restricting access to social media for young people because of the addictive nature of social media platforms, and Jesse is interested in how the social media platforms themselves can be held to account,’ she said.
‘I am confident that both these articulate young people will be great local representatives and will actively engage in the sessions. I look forward to hearing from them after the summit,’ said Ms Saffin.
‘It is important that voices from regional areas are included in forums like this and I thank the Australian Council for Young People for supporting their attendance.
More information about the summit and a link to the livestream is available here.
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