More than 160 students have voluntarily agreed to stop using social media at John Septimus Roe, in Mirrabooka.
More than 160 students have voluntarily agreed to stop using social media at John Septimus Roe, in Mirrabooka.
By Holly Thompson
July 1, 2025 — 9.47am
A Perth school is getting ahead of the incoming nationwide social media ban for young people under 16, introducing its own initiative to help students adapt to the changes.
More than 160 students have voluntarily agreed to stop using social media at John Septimus Roe, in Mirrabooka.
The school has also asked the parents of those students to join in and enforce the ban at home and during the weekends, to help their children learn to build connections offline before December 10 – when the real ban will come into effect.
Year 9 student Jasmine Cacciola said she had signed up to the program as she found it difficult to get off the apps once she started scrolling.
“I always find myself scrolling at night, I find it quite addictive,” she said.
Fellow student Jack Simon said he knew it would be hard and that he would miss social media, but that it was “for the best”.
Principal John Bartell said the school had students from kindergarten to year 10 taking part.
“We’re not saying social media is not OK, we’re saying let’s limit that until children have got the developmental age and acuity to use it responsibly,” he said.
“These conversations are really important in the primary years before they do get pressured to have social media.
“There’s two ways to do this. You go cold turkey or you have a conversation about what do I do to limit and how do I pull back.
“It is easy to say no when we all say no.”
Bartell said the federal government’s ban had not been timed well.
“From my perspective, you’ve got all these children who have dependence on social media for connection and whatnot, and then all of a sudden, one week before their school holidays, they’re not going to have that connection,” he said.
“If you make the decision earlier, we will work with the parents, and they can work with their children about connecting in other ways so that it’s not such a shock.
“Children make the statement ‘I’m the only one in my class, I’m the only one in my year group that doesn’t have social media’.
“[But now they] can go to the statistics that we’ll share with them and say actually, I know that 40 others in year five or year six have committed to this.”
Hale School took it one step further, banning phones and social media on school grounds for those in year 7 and below, and asking parents to also ban the devices at home in January 2025.
Principal Dean Dell’Oro said the students had appeared calmer and less distracted since the ban.
“They are more rested, which would suggest less screens in bedrooms at night, therefore there is better sleep,” he said.
The school is now discussing whether to extend the ban to year 8.
Once the national ban begins, social media companies that fail to comply will face fines of up to $50 million.
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Holly Thompson is a journalist with WAtoday, specialising in education.Connect via Twitter or email.
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