But first, in a week’s time, a ban starts in Australia that aims to stop children using social media – so that’s things like TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube. The law will make Australia the first country in the world to bring in this kind of ban for under-16s.

The government there says it’s all about keeping younger people safe online and making sure they’re only seeing content they’re supposed to. But it will be down to social media companies to enforce the rules. If they don’t, they could face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars, which is about £25 million.

So, we spoke to young people in both Australia and the UK to see what they think about the ban.

I think it’s a good thing because we spend lots of time on our phones and we might get time to, like, go outside or spend time with our family.

The bad things are it will affect people socialising with their friends overseas or that live in different states.

Other countries should have this ban as well to protect children from all over the world. Prevent them from seeing things that maybe they shouldn’t see and, like … … texting people they don’t know, and things like that.

So, that’s how children in Australia are feeling. But what do you guys make of their new rules?

I think the ban in Australia would be a good idea because there’ll be less children believing fake news.

I think it was a good idea because some people might have been doing some bad stuff.

It can be a good idea because there’s a lot of cyberbullying and trolling going on.

People might think it’s unfair because they think they’re, like … since they’ve been using it for that long, it might be in their, like, routine.

Some people might not think it’s a good idea because many people are addicted to their phones.

I think the Australian government has brought the ban in so there’ll be less time spent on phones and so that children can be looking at appropriate things for their age.

Young people are spending too much time on it and they should… they need to, like, get outdoors, because they’ve noticed how many young people are just sitting there and scrolling for hours.

I see why the Australian government’s banned it, but if something similar happened in the UK, I wouldn’t be happy at all.

Personally, I don’t use social media so it wouldn’t affect me as much, but I know that others use it a lot and they can get addicted, just scrolling for hours, and it can harm their mental health.

So, if something similar happened in the UK, I think I would just be, like, in shock and I don’t think it would sit well with a lot of people.

Well, to find out more about the ban and what the rules are in other countries around the world, you can head over to the Newsround website.(End)

• A ban (noun): an official rule that stops something from happening.
• To aim (verb): to intend or try to do something.
• A law (noun): a rule, usually made by a government, that says what people can or can’t do.
• To bring in something (phrasal verb): to introduce something new, such as a product or a law.
• Content (noun): information, images, video, etc. that are included on a website or seen online.
• To be supposed to (phrase): to be expected, intended or allowed to.
• To be down to someone (idiom): to be someone’s responsibility or decision.
• To enforce something (verb): to make people follow a rule or law.
• To face something (verb): to accept and deal with a problem.
• A fine (noun): an amount of money that has to be paid as a punishment for breaking a rule.
• To affect something (verb): to change something or have an influence on something.
• To socialise (verb): to spend time with friends.
• Overseas (adverb): in another country.
• A state (noun): a part of a large country (e.g. Australia) with its own government.
• To protect someone (verb): to keep someone safe from injury, damage, or harm.
• To prevent something (verb): to stop something from happening.
• Things like that (phrase): and other similar things.
• To make (something) of something (phrasal verb): to have an impression or opinion of something.
• To believe something (verb): to think that something is true.
• Fake news (noun): news stories that are not true and are made to trick people.
• Stuff (noun): things in general that someone says or does.
• Cyberbullying (noun): the act of using the internet to harm or be unkind to other people.
• Trolling (noun): the act of sending an abusive or unkind message to someone on the internet.
• To go on (phrasal verb): to happen.
• Since (conjunction): because, as.
• A routine (noun): the usual things you do every day or very often.
• Addicted (adjective): not able to stop doing something, or doing something very often as a habit.
• Appropriate (adjective): correct or right for a particular person or situation.
• Outdoors (adverb): outside, not in a building.
• To scroll (verb): to move text or pictures up or down on a computer or mobile phone screen.
• Personally (adverb): used to give your own opinion.
• To harm something (verb): to hurt someone or damage something.
• Shock (noun): a reaction to an unexpected bad experience.
• To sit well with someone (idiom): to be something that someone agrees with or is happy about.
• To head somewhere (verb): to go to a particular place or in a particular direction.

In this text, there are various examples of modal verbs of probability. We use the modal verbs might, could and may + base verb (without to) to say that we think something is possible, but we’re not sure. We use can to make general statements about what is possible.

Use might, could or may (not)  when we think it is possible that something is true in the present or future. May is more formal than might and could:

‘She may be late.’ (= maybe she will be late).’   ‘It could rain later.’ (= maybe it will rain).’   ‘He might not study Spanish, I can’t remember.’ (= maybe he doesn’t study Spanish).

Use can to say what is true in general using your knowledge, but don’t use can for specific events and things you don’t know for sure:

‘English can be a difficult language to study.’ (= I know English is sometimes difficult).   ‘You can find lots of fun things to do in London.’ (= I know there are lots of fun things to do in London).   ‘I can arrive late, I’ve got lots of homework.’   ‘I might/ may/ could arrive late …’ (= maybe I will arrive late, I don’t know).

When making guesses about past possibilities, use might/ could/ may + have + past participle of the verb:

‘I might have lost my keys, they’re not in my bag.’   ‘She may have left school already, she was feeling ill.’   ‘They’re late. They could have missed the train.’

*We can use the form might/ may/ could + have + been + –ing to make guesses about the things people possibly did for a long period of time:

‘They might have been playing video games all night!’   ‘She may have been thinking about it for months.’

Take note of the pronunciation of past possibilities. The ‘have’ in might/ could/ may + have + past participle is often weak, and sounds like /uv/, not /have/.

‘He might have forgotten about lesson, he’s not here.’ = He might/uv/ forgotten …   ‘She could have lost her phone, I can’t contact her.’ = She could/uv/ lost …

Could can also be used to say what was true in the past in general, using your knowledge:

‘It could be a hard place to live.’ (= I know it was sometimes a hard place to live).   ‘You could easily fail that subject.’ (= I know people often failed that subject).

Examples in the text:

• If they don’t, they could face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars: ‘could + face fines’ is used here to talk about a future possibility if companies don’t follow the rules.
• … we might get time to, like, go outside or spend time with our family: ‘might + get time’ is used here to talk about a future possibility if young people can’t use social media.
• … some people might have been doing some bad stuff: ‘might + have + been + doing’ is used here to guess about the things people were doing in the past for long periods of time. ‘Have’ is pronounced as a weak form, /uv/.
• It can be a good idea because there’s a lot of cyberbullying …: ‘can + be a good idea’ is used here by the speaker, using his own knowledge, to talk about what is true or possible in general.
• People might think it’s unfair: ‘might + think it’s unfair’ is used here to talk about a present possibility, that young people are unhappy with the decision.
• Some people might not think it’s a good idea ‘might not + think it’s a good idea’ is used here to talk about a present possibility, that some people disagree with the ban.
• … they can get addicted, just scrolling for hours, and it can harm their mental health: ‘can + get addicted’ and ‘can harm their mental health’ are used here by the speaker, using his own knowledge, to talk about the general risks of social media.

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/probability

#SocialMedia #Schools #Australia #BBCNewsround

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