Banning SM for under 16s

[CuteKoalas]

I've just seen a reel that it went to parliament today to be discussed about banning SM for under 16s.

I personally think its quite a good idea. The mindless scrolling I see dsc do on Instagram for hours on end, cannot be any good for them.
There has already been bullying on WhatsApp too
( their dm allows it on their phone ) they are 11.

I just think how simpler our lives were as teems without it.

Or am I being a grump ?

My other dcs are too young for it. However they often try to badger me to have it.

I also wonder what will happen to all the opened accounts if it was to get banned.
Or even how they would police it.

I'm not being judgemental.

I find it fascinating that the parents in DS class are totally loopy about smart phones. The one who has been most vocal has been the parent who demanded their child benefit given a tablet to manage his behaviour at school. On top of this, on numerous occasions he's told friends about various things he's watched on TV, YouTube and various games he's played. All age inappropriate.

His parents are unable to grasp that his access to a tablet and online gaming are as bad as a smart phone.

They want a ban, because it lets them off the hook.

That's the problem for me.

Not only that but given you can buy a smartphone for £40 if you really want one, it's not going to stop kids.

There is no substitute for being aware of what your child is doing and who with unfortunately.

It's not about policing it. It's about how it just passes the buck from parents.

Also, kids will eventually use social media and smart phones. They need to learn how to use them responsibly, manage their usage and protect themselves. If you stop them having them until a certain age, then all you do is save up a bunch of problems for when they are older anyway. It doesn't necessarily solve issues.

We need a better understanding of how we can teach kids, manage their use of various forms of communications and respond to difficult situations - at various stepped age appropriate points.

You aren't going avoid technology - it's not like drugs and alcohol in that respect.

I could do with that training course! My DD has hacked the parental settings I was pretty proud of adding, and thought they were locked down with an unguessable password, and was on her phone after midnight last night! So the parental controls tell me this but don’t stop it? She wasn’t at home btw.
I’d like a balance of education and technology to enforce a reasonable reduction in use but like others have said she uses her phone for homework as the interface is better than her laptop. Banning things rarely works, but the MH affects of social media are awful.

I've yet to see any positives to children and teens using social media and so, until I'm convinced otherwise, I'm supportive of a ban.

Parents allowing it is the problem! It's already stated that it's for 13+, but there are 'class' WhatsApp groups that are absolutely teeming with cyber bullying and we as a school, are powerless to do nothing about it because it's the parents who are setting them up and allowing, nay encouraging, their 8,9,10 and 11 year olds to use it...

I'd agree with this, I wish I'd been stricter with my dd, I thought I was quite strict at the time but looking back I should have been stricter.

It's so damaging and addictive, it ruined dds ability to concentrate and I can't remember the last time she read s book 😕

She's 19 now, if I had my time again she wouldn't get a phone until she was 14 and absolutely no sm until she was 16.

Absolutely! I was the boring parent that wouldn’t let mine have one in primary school and in a tiny minority. Now toddlers have them which I really can’t get my head round.

I must have misunderstood you as I agree with most of what you've written here

Honestly it's ridiculous my 12 year old is autistic doesn't use social media as such but does use a phone for pokemon go which involves going outside walking moving visiting places if he can't take his phone out he is less likely to come outside and will stay in the home

I think making it illegal will go a long way to reducing its use among children. Although some parents may still allow it, the fact that it is actually illegal will surely reduce that significantly

@Theunamedcat this is the problem - people seem to combine "ban social media" and "ban smart phones". Which isn't the same thing.
Smart phones are a fantastic piece of equipment and have loads of uses.
If parents don't want their under 16s on social media then they need to monitor the phones - not take away the phones !

DS uses Pokémon Go, Scratch Junior, makes stop motion animations and Duolingo. He's not allowed social media. He's not allowed YouTube. He's time limited. It's really positive for him.

A bad workman blames his tools...

Its not phones its bad bullying behaviour which actually is happening to dc and friend irl rather than online. (But possibly only as they dont have her number)
Like the murser of the child by another child where they had been arguing online that kid had brought a weapon into school already and yet allowed back in.

Lets get more bullies kicked our of school generally.

In terms of inapproriate stuff dd had a 13yo who she went to orimary make a job about BJ to her after taking her bottle off her so she had to bend down in front of him!

Other boys in the year had a naked woman photo and put it around the class and on the teachers desk!
Personally i would like porn to be charge to see which might slow down people accessing - in error and younger boys not being able to pay for it.

Also imo a lot of parents are letting kids watch very inappropriate films from a young age as its online now.

Im not sure phones as teens is more an issue than preschoolers who only watch tv and have phones and devices on their pushchairs. They are not learning to play together. And for sen kids devices are easier than unpredictable people.

Most kids are also using phones during homework - ours is 95% online.

I certainly dont agree with
-Punishing all.kids.because some are bullying and watching porn
A.16yo age limit as that affects gcse years so some kids.going in in sept.to.school with their phone able.to.use apps and chat to.friends vs 15 till aug after exams kids.who get left behind as.with everything else. If there has to be a ban it would have to be year groups not age

Considering how many kids in pushchairs watch their favourite tv programmes on a parental device from sites like YouTube and streaming services, an unpoliceable ban on content for older kids seem silly. I would argue that YT is social media as you can leave comments and it’s algorithm feeds you more content like Instagram Reels and TikTok.

Im not saying that we don’t need a rethink but I can’t imagine it working because parents will insist it’s up to them , even if the ban became a parenting recommendation. Nobody is going to end up in prison because they’re under 16 watched TikTok with or without their parents. The bar for social services involvement is so high that kids are living with higher risk factors like parents who do drugs and nothing happens.

It doesn't. But just because some kids will obtain cigarettes anyway, and they do, even provided by parents, doesn't mean it still shouldn't be banned.

Surely standalone devices could easily be developed for these instances?

For too many parents they're the ultimate pacifier for their kids and they just can't deal with the consequences of enforcing any kind of ban or limitation. These parents will fight tooth and nail and insist we just need better education, yadayadayada. This is just evidence of how addictive these things are.

Of course they could. And jolly well should. Probably do.

Mine don’t have phones, they’re 4 and 5 lol. However I can’t support a smart phone ban simply because they use mine.

I have the Peppa Pig and Bluey apps on it, a phonics program for the older one.
I also don’t have a home phone line so when they want to speak to their parents or cousins etc I just hand them mine

So parents of disabled children would then need to buy an expensive medical device (they won’t be cheap!), rather than what we currently have a £60 phone. Those in the UK will have to move away from NHS funded censors until this device is approved by NICE, that won’t be fast.

My son is year 5 and one of the few who is banned from social media / phones. What I find really sad is most of them meet up to sit on their phones / play x box. He isn’t isolated but definitely doesn’t have as many friend socials as most in the year. As far as I am concerned that’s not quality time or real friendship and we have just told him that they are not real friends if they don’t want to socialise because he doesn’t have an iPhone.

there have been some negative posts about smart phone free childhood - I am a member and have found it really useful to get support from like minded parents. It is not dictating to others but educating others about the harmful effects. We only meet up with family friends who share the same views as us about social media. There are children in year 1/2 with their parents old smart phones with YouTube and TikTok and I just find it so depressing.

I wish the UK would ban social media for under 16s

They can have a monitor. There is type 1 diabetes in my family since before the internet and a Smart phone is not essential, what an odd objection to come up with!

Possibly but why have various bits of an equipment when a smartphone can do so much
My son was diagnosed with Diabetes two years ago in year 11 he Has Dexcom linked to an app on his phone ,it'd so reassuring as a parent to know his blood sugar is being monitored continuously.

I'm just pointing out thst sometimes they are used as medical device, s so can't nr arbitrarily banned my son was allowed his phone in all his GCSE, exams because he has a Dexcom linked to it on a table in front of him with a large sign do not remove for medical reasons.

Whilst it would be hard to officially enforce, it may more easily empower parents to be able to say no. And the more parents that say no, the less kids are on it, reducing that horrible feeling that your kid is the only one missing out on talking to their friends.

My son is part of an organisation that is run by adult volunteers who use Facebook to send out comms, he's not allowed on Facebook so I have to go on there and get the info he needs, he's 14 so it's far from ideal, if it was officially banned for kids situations like this couldn't arise.