‘Ban social media for under 16s’ says leading campaigner

On Monday, the government sent guidance to all schools, saying that mobile phones should be banned throughout the school day, and they have also launched a three-month consultation on children’s use of social media. But campaigners are calling for action to be taken immediately.

Previous research has found that nine out of 10 children own a mobile phone by the time they reach the age of 11 and that three-quarters of social media users aged between eight and 17 have their own account or profile on at least one of the large platforms.

A quarter of 13 to18-year-olds use their phones for about five-and-a-half hours a day, according to a BBC survey, and adolescents who spent over three hours a day on social media were twice as likely to experience poor mental health, including depression and anxiety, compared to their peers, reported scientific journal JAMA Psychiatry.

“We know that digital platforms are not a safe space for children and can cause them to become anxious or depressed,” said Eden, who founded One Collective Power, which educates on digital wellbeing. “Many teenagers want to come off them, but they don’t know how to. It’s very difficult for them to self-regulate. Lots of teens will be very grateful for the legislation.”

A mum of three children, aged 14, 11 and six, Eden said that her eldest child was one of the few among his peer group who wasn’t allowed on social media, something she said had been “very hard” for him.

Nova Eden outside Parliament (Photo: courtesy)[Missing Credit]

“He has a smartphone, which was why I started campaigning. This legislation will be instrumental in making meaningful change. It’s not only the dangerous platforms that kids are on, but it’s also what’s being lost – the free time when they build their personality and when they make mistakes in real-life situations. Social media takes away from the healthy activities that children should be doing.”

Eden, who successfully campaigned for Barnet to become the first UK borough to introduce a smartphone-free policy in schools, added that she was also concerned about the amount of hate, including antisemitism, which young people were exposed to on digital platforms. “I’m very sensitive to this, and social media plays a huge part in its spread.”

While ideally, she would like to see a ban increased to aged 18, Eden described the current proposals as “a good place to start”, adding: “It will buy an extra four or five years and allow kids to develop without the pressure of the digital world.”

While more than 60 MPs have written to Starmer in support of the social media ban, charities including the NSPCC, Childnet and suicide prevention charity the Molly Rose Foundation are among 42 individuals and organisations arguing that it would be the "wrong solution".

In a joint statement, they wrote that a ban “would create a false sense of safety that would see children – but also the threats to them – migrate to other areas online”.

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