To think we absolutely have to ban social media for under 16s.

This is the rule for our children, but we don't have the pressure of school to worry about. Their friends are the same, they all have non-smart phones until 16+, no social media and there's a noticeable difference.

@ladeedarwith respect, you are on SM right now, as am I. These apps are designed to be highly highly addictive for everyone, it’s designed for life long high engagement. Crack isn’t anywhere near as addictive as flashing images of our special interests, or constant conversation at anytime of day. Or the ability to argue with people at anytime, or receive compliments or view other people’s private lives. Right now, I know that a woman I spoke to once at a party is having chemo today. There is no precedent for this and the impact on our brain chemistry is shocking.

Absolutely agree with you there - it is parents who didn’t know the risks (and why would they have done, it’s not their fault!) and allowed theirs to have SM from a young age who don’t seem to be in favour of banning it.

Yes just like drugs, alcohol and smoking. Just teach them to be responsible.

If we're relying on that these days then we're fucked.

Would be impossible to police. Older children can be a bit devious, and would get round any restrictions. The best way is for parents to educate their children on the pros and cons of social media, and have appropriate conversations with them. Like stranger danger - we as parents speak to our children about this, and also the importance of setting boundaries etc within situations with friends and family (most abuse happens from people they know), so parents should be proactive with education round social media stuff too.

Smart phone denier right here

I see social media as a bit like class A addictive drugs. We can teach about responsible use but its very difficult for the majority to stick to responsible use because of the nature of it.

Outstanding post @FusionChefGeoff

All the social media / smart phone parents are now arriving to tell us why it just needs to be regulated more / it’ll never work etc.

Well I say bollocks! Social media is ruining our children’s lives. Wake up!!

My kids don’t have smart phones or social media. They’re banned from schools where I live and it won’t be long before social media for under 16s is too.

Agreed OP but the big problem is that the social media companies hold all the power. If a political party was to try and implement this the entire internet would be turned against them and they would never be elected. It’s pretty similar to how no one wants to take on the tabloid press

My kids got phones when they started secondary school. I checked them randomly but got a bit lax with my youngest and left it a few weeks once. Noticed she was falling asleep during the day and discovered 2 things. She had ' made friends ' with a boy in Australia and was messaging him in middle of night.
She was also being groomed by older boys at school who were sending her videos of them ejaculating and asking her to send them videos back.
She had just turned 13. I reacted very badly as was so shocked. Rather than see her as the victim she was, I shouted about how we trusted her to be sensible and she had betrayed that and now we would have to call the police etc etc.And tell school and involve safeguarding etc.
The police said it was so rife there was little they could do and just let school deal with it. I have no idea what school did but main perpetrator still went on to be head boy that year so I cannot see that he got more than a talking to.
My daughter was totally traumatised by the whole thing, including my reaction which terrified her( I am not proud of that) but did delete all social media and has never used it again, ( now 18)
She was/is the sweetest, brightest child. Please do not ever assume that your child will not be caught up in stuff like this. If you let them have a smart phone, please check it every few days, including looking at shared images. If they get to 15 plus and have been trustworthy to that point then maybe it is time to offer them privacy but it is a dangerous world out there on social media😭😭😭😭😭

Generally kids and adults split into 2 groups - the ones that follow the rules and the ones that don’t.

If social media was banned then yes, some kids and indeed adults would easily get round it.

However, for us as parents it would be a huge help in our efforts to restrict / ban it as we can also add “plus it’s illegal” to all the other reasons we currently give.

it would give more confidence to those parents who want to ban it but are currently in the very passive group at the moment who seem to feel they have no choice.

it would make some parents rethink their choices - oh shit I didn’t think it was that bad but if it’s illegal
maybe we should restrict it a bit more

all of the above can only be a step in the right direction!!

Just because it will be hard and it will be imperfect it doesn’t mean we just give up.

The solution needs to be in the hardware not the software.
A certain type of phone needs to be for u16s, it could make calls, texts, take photos and download necessary apps such as homework, bus timetables, online books etc. But wouldn't have the ability to download social media or have free range internet.
I know this can also be achieved by software means, but software can always be circumvented.

I agree the ship has sailed but God it's depressing.

Why didn't people forced this though in the late 90s early 2000s?Government was completely inept at forecasting the consequences of probably more likely seeing opportunities for economic growth.

The psychological impact of social media in the formative years of development is going to breed research articles for decades.

Maybe we can just mitigate the problem by early inclusion of SM in personal development lessons? We won't ban smoking entirely but we can tell children about king cancer from an early age.

What I think is often missed in this debate is why DC are becoming so addicted to phones.

My older DC were teens in the 2010s and they were always out with friends at the cinema, playing football etc. They had freedom to be independent.

There was a thread on here the other day proclaiming that it was too dangerous for a 14 year old to walk 20 minutes down the street. Clearly DC are going to be attached to phones if you tell them the real world is so dangerous.

I do wish people would not be reductive and also have a bit more compassion and empathy these days.

I'm part of the generation of parents that has had to have their kids grow up in the age of social media in full force.

It's very easy for both older and younger generations to criticise. I see it so much on every platform.

Social media has totally morphed from how it started and how it was, I expect, intended to be used. I don't think banning smartphones themselves is the answer. We use them for so many useful things too. Homework is set using an app, payment cards, online banking etc. You might argue teens don't need that but it's how we manage our money in the modern world so yes they do. Our society is increasingly cashless.
Parents are so anxious about everything. Children are not learning real world skills from playing out and going on adventures with their friends. Youth clubs have all but disappeared. We all want to keep our children safe but at the same time we are failing to teach them how to manage risks for themselves.
Social media is abused by big marketing companies and algorithms make it a topic echo chamber. As adults we know this but individually are powerless to stop it. I don't know what the answer is but it's a wider problem than just banning phones.

I've noticed it's mainly the older parents who let their kids have unrestricted internet access, give them iPads age 3 etc. Say what you want about me becoming a mum at 16 but at least I'm young enough to understand how the internet works and how easy it is for kids to stumble upon something fucked up online.

Anyway I'm sure in the next five or ten years as people of my generation become parents at more respectable ages you'll see more parents not letting their kids use social media

Agree, my teens don’t have it and are happier because of that. ALL the issues friends teens seem to have at the moment are directly linked to their SM use. Sharing too much, friendship issues, bullying, anxiety, - it’s awful.
Mine are still affected because they see others SM just not to the same extent.

I was very strict with screentime (dd had hardly any) until l couldn't be any more - as soon as she started secondary, she needed her phone. I have google family link which isn't fit for purpose really as she is now 13 apparently kids can override it.
I think kids really struggle to self regulate on these devices which l know isn't op's question but look at snapchat - if they lose their streak, it's a disaster. Made to be addictive
Yes sm should be banned for kids imo.

OK how would you ban it,, parents create accounts for under age children as it is now let alone when it is 'banned', have to put id details into sign up? Will that information be kept safely?

People can use fake date of birth, so if it is actually banned how would that work on a practical level?

YANBU should come with a warning for adults too. There’s no conversation anymore, people literally cannot function without it. It’s so damaging.
If there’s ever a nuclear war, they can just throw us in bunkers with our socials lol

I think that shipped has sales. How are you going to ban it? Tech savvy kids will soon get around the technical aspects, and parents aren’t going to police it.

Money, money, money.

Anyone with a leave pension possibly has share in the likes of Meta and Google and so there is a vast vested economic interest in ensuring there is a new generation of users for these products no matter what the damage to young people. How much lobbying were tobacco firms able to apply to government before smoking was increasingly made unaccptable? How much do oil companies spend in lobbying about the virtues of hydrocarbons despite the evidence of climate change.

To my mind social media for the young epitomizes corporate greed and history is not going to look kindly on this.