Discussion Class

Discussion Class Topics

- Friday the 9th of December -

(12pm)

- Australia's child social media ban -

The Australian government has recently passed and implemented the world's first social media ban for people under the age of 16. Kids across the country will no longer be able to access websites like Facebook, X, and Instagram, but will, strangely, still be able to access social media sites like BlueSky (a left wing twitter like space).
Some are saying this ban is common sense as children should not be using these platforms, as it exposes them to harmful content, glues them to their devices, and prevents them from socialising face to face.
Others saying this is yet more government control and that governments shouldn't be telling people how they can and can't communicate with their friends.

Kids have responded by downloading VPNs (typically apps that trick your device into thinking it's in a different location, to get around the ban. These VPNs are not illegal, and widely used around the world for a variety of reasons, often to access regional content on platforms such as Netflix and Disney+, as well as for privacy and security reasons).

Do you support this kind of ban? Do you think it will have the intended effect or will their be some surprise effects?

Link 1

Link 2

Let's discuss this!

- Friday the 19th of December -

(8pm)

- Japan eyes massive visa price hikes -

The new Japanese government under Sanae Takaichi have been making a lot of noise recently about the "foreigner problem". One thing that they and the media have seemed to focus on is the application and renewal prices for visas. When foreign people move to Japan they have to pay the Japanese government to do. This can vary depending on the type of visa, but generally the price is about 4000-6000 yen. Some Japanese lawmakers have argued that this is way too cheap relative to other countries, where visa applications can cost hundreds of dollars/pounds/euros. And whilst this is true, they seem to forget/ignore the fact that those other countries also have way higher salaries than Japan. So when it was reported that visa costs could rise as much as 10 times (to around 40,000 yen), some foreign residents were, understandably quite angry. That is a significant jump in cost, without any rise in salary. For permanent resident applications, which currently cost 10,000 yen in a one off payment, there were some reports saying it could go up as high as 300,000 yen! Again, without any salary rise. This is effectively an entire month's salary for a single person. For a family, it is possibly completely unaffordable!

Do you think these price rises are a good idea? Are they reasonable, or too much or little? And what problem are these increases actually solving? What do you think they knock on effect of these changes might be? Will it improve the Japanese economy? Will it reduce the number of foreign residents working and living in Japan? And will that be good or bad for Japan?

Link 1

Link 2

Let's discuss this!

- Sunday the 11th of January -

(11am)

- Should the US government have stayed shutdown? -

Recently, the US government was shut down from October 1st to November 12th, a total of 43 days, making this the longest government shutdown in US history. One key issue that led to this shutdown was whether the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) should be extended. Ultimately, the Democrats decided to approve the Republican spending bill, ending the government shutdown. And for what? To put the Affordable Care Act issue to a vote in December.

Many people view this as a cowardly capitulation of the Dems, but what about the families who were not being paid while this shutdown was in effect? What would you have done in this situation? Why does it seem like the Democrats are always the ones to back down?

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

Let's discuss this!