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Should we enforce limits and curfews on young people regarding their social media use?

 As an ex-headteacher who was also the computing lead in my schools for most of my career, I have a reasonable understanding of both online technology and the character of young people. That is why I was a little disappointed by the focus of the article on the BBC website titled ‘Government considers social media time limits for children’ that I read yesterday.

Social media time limits for children considered by government - BBC News

There was a lot in the article that I agree with, primarily the need to punish those sharing illegal and harmful content, and the words of Ian Russell, whose daughter took her own life after being exposed to such content, were very powerful.

However, my issues are with the concept of ‘time limits’ and ‘curfews’, which the article itself acknowledges as having limited impact, as these are implemented by the user or the user’s parents and are therefore, by their nature, voluntary.

In my view, the government should focus on addressing the issue of harmful or illegal content, and a different approach should be employed to, in the words of the Secretary of State for Technology in the BBC article, “understand what a healthy online life for children look(s) like.”

My experience of young people tells me that they will, with some support, work things out for themselves. We have already seen the start of this, as children in 2025 have a significantly greater understanding of how to maintain good mental health than children in 2015, and are making better choices than ever before, so this is where our efforts should be focused. 

The movement towards ‘minimalist’ phones, which encourage a more balanced approach to technology, appears to be growing, giving me hope that our young people are evolving in a healthier way than we might have expected. However, I am not advocating that we simply leave them to it. While focusing on supporting the removal of dangerous content, we should work with them to help them understand the impacts of their choices and realise that the future is in their hands.

Simply restricting their access to a level that we deem appropriate is not a strategy we should employ, as it will fail.
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