Back

EduMarking Says School Playgrounds Were Not Ready for the Social Media Ban's Promised Return to Real Life

EduMarking

Key Facts:

• Australia's under-16 social media ban, which took effect in December 2025, has shown limited success, with eSafety research finding over 80% of teenagers still using social media at similar rates to before the ban.
• EduMarking argues that a key structural factor has been overlooked: many school outdoor spaces are not sufficiently equipped to offer a compelling alternative to social media, particularly in lower socioeconomic areas.
• Research from Monash University and the ABS supports this position, showing unequal access to quality outdoor recreation infrastructure and that children spend 46.6% of break time sedentary on bare asphalt and concrete.
• Studies indicate that thermoplastic playground markings can measurably increase moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in children, with effects lasting at least 12 months after installation.
• EduMarking, which has worked with more than 10,000 schools worldwide, supplies playground line marking, resurfacing, shade structures, seating, and outdoor musical instruments, with most installations completed within a school holiday period.

MELBOURNE, Australia, 16 September 2026. EduMarking, a national supplier of playground and outdoor services to Australian schools, says the physical infrastructure that children were meant to return to following Australia's under-16 social media ban was not equally available across the school system when the ban took effect in December 2025.

eSafety's August 2026 research found more than 80% of Australian teens are still using social media at similar rates to before the ban. The policy conversation has focused on why enforcement has not succeeded. EduMarking's position is that the conversation is missing a structural factor: the outdoor spaces children were expected to return to are not uniformly equipped to support the active, engaged play the ban assumed was waiting for them.

Monash University research has documented that children in lower socioeconomic areas have measurably less access to quality outdoor recreation infrastructure than those in more affluent neighbourhoods. ABS data shows children spend 46.6% of break time sedentary on bare asphalt and concrete. A separate study tracking children across marked and unmarked playground surfaces found that thermoplastic zone markings across primary school playgrounds produced a rise in moderate-to-vigorous activity that remained measurable 12 months after installation. The physical environment shapes activity levels in ways that are observable and quantifiable.

"The ban assumed the playground was there and ready. In a lot of schools it is not, at least not in a form that competes with a phone for a 13-year-old's attention. We work with schools across the country and what we see is a wide variation: some yards are genuinely engaging, with marked activity zones, structured play surfaces, and outdoor spaces children actually use. Others are large areas of bare asphalt with faded lines. Asking a child to swap a social media feed for a blank concrete yard is not a realistic exchange," said Sally Reiter, Director of EduMarking.

EduMarking installs heat-applied playground line marking rated to last seven years or more under daily school use, carrying a five-year product warranty. The company also provides concrete resurfacing, outdoor seating, shade structures, and outdoor musical instruments, and has worked with more than 10,000 schools worldwide. Most projects are completed in one to three days, within a school holiday window.

About us:

About EduMarking

EduMarking supplies playground and outdoor services to schools nationally, spanning thermoplastic line marking, concrete resurfacing, outdoor seating and shade structures, outdoor musical instruments, and playground maintenance. The company has worked with more than 10,000 schools worldwide.

Contact details:

EduMarking

Sally Reiter, Director

[email protected]

1300 009 111