PRESS RELEASE: Progressive new program encourages young people to ‘Take Control’ of social media dilemmas

Young people are being overwhelmed by social media, without the skills or knowledge to support their engagement and address concerns around bullying, safety, privacy or self-image, according to the International Social Media Association (ISMA) Youth Council.

Take Control – a new educational initiative of the ISMA Youth Council aims to provide young people, parents and teachers with the tools and framework to deal with social media issues in the most positive way.

“Too often young people are struggling with the dilemmas of unbridled social media interaction without any guidance or tools for safe and positive interactions, and it can have a profoundly negative emotional affect,” explained Ness Song, Chair, ISMA Youth Council.

“Take Control has been developed as a free educational program to empower young people, from age 10 up, through a safe, interactive and informative space to discuss the challenges of social media interactions and how to work with these in a positive manner.”

“There is, especially for young people, a lot of confusion about what you can and can’t, or shouldn’t, say on social media,” Ms Song explained. “Many people don’t know how to manage online bullying or cyber safety, and how social media affects children and without appropriate tools this can present an overwhelming dilemma.”

“With the right guidance, understanding and support from parents, carers and teachers we hope to inspire young people to lead the discussion to drive the positive change they want to see on social platforms and take control of their interactions.”

Launching during Privacy Awareness Week, Take Control attendees will participate in discussions with youth-relevant expert speakers including a Youth Council worker, youth and social media psychologist and TikTok Influencer, while being supported to be part of the change by learning good social media habits and understanding how to grow with technology.

Social media use has evolved at a frenetic pace over the past decade; currently over 80% of Australians are active Facebook users .

As the global voice of social media use and law, ISMA is committed to providing education around appropriate social media use. ISMA Youth Council was formed to represent the significant number of social media users aged between 13-25 who are rarely engaged with in positive conversations around social use and aims to provide an active voice on social media issues.

The inaugural Take Control Event will be held in Lilyfield, NSW on Tuesday 4th May followed by Liverpool on 18th May. Children age 10 years up, parents, carers and teachers are invited to attend and tickets for these free workshops are available from ISMA.