My thoughts as the author of a book about smartphones and social media
Six years ago, fed up of a WhatsApp group chat where one person was going on and on about their new car, I had a lightbulb moment and began my journey down a rabbit hole, researching why we are so addicted to our smartphones and what we can do about it.
My book How to Leave a Group Chat has become more relevant than ever as the conversation around our smartphones, social media and how we communicate has absolutely mushroomed. I didn’t expect that two years later the British government would introduce a social media ban for under 16s, and of course as the communications expert I have a lot of thoughts about this which I will share in this article (bet you didn’t see that coming!).
Age differences and devices
As I was setting out to write this article I had a conversation about the social media ban with an author friend Lee Coates, author of The Shrew and father of an eleven year old and thirteen year old. He told me “I generally agree with a social media ban for kids…The ban would hopefully reduce family stress as parents are no longer constantly being nagged for extra screen time as it’s simply just not allowed, by law! The actual ban next Spring seems like a long way away and I think kids will no doubt find a way around it, but I support the ban (especially for younger children).”
According to the research that I have studied about smartphone and social media use, there is no reason for children to use social media before high school (which in Britain begins as children turn 12). However, it goes without saying that a five-year old is different to a fourteen-year old.
Pre-teens and screen use
There’s no reason for children to use tablets or smartphones before high school, which means there’s no reason for them to be on social media. The younger the child using such a device, the more likely they are to have their development harmed because starring at a screen takes away the crucial time they need to develop essential real world skills such as gripping, exercising and building core strength and even talking. We never even used to consider that children would have to build core strength because they’re supposed to be little monkeys. On my book journey I have spoken to teachers who have had to introduce special exercises so that young children starting school are able to do something as simple as sit upright and teachers who are concerned that too many of their new pupils are starting school with a language delay that they believe will mean that the child will struggle to catch up academically.
It’s worth remembering that smartphones and tablets (tablets are oversized smartphones) are designed in a similar way to casino gambling machines, and it’s teachers who have to deal with the withdrawal tantrums when young children are dropped off at school unable to cope without their screen. A social media ban does not change the fact that devices are addictive, and an addicted child left to their own devices will be on social media if there’s no intervention.
High school children and phone use
It’s only since the 2000’s that high school children started to be given phones, and only around the early 2010’s that they started having access to smartphones. Before that, high schoolers still had freedom. They went out and about independently, and parents and children practised something much more necessary than calling each other. They practised trust. With trust from their parents, children learnt how to navigate the world, work things out if they got into scrapes, manage their time and, most importantly, enjoy independent time with their friends. And, although bad things could happen incredibly rarely, on the whole children returned home. They flourished and made it to adulthood. Statistically, the chance of a child being abducted has continued to remain incredibly low, it’s a handful of high profile cases that have made the world seem scarier than it actually is. If we really want to make society safer and healthier for children we need serious measures to reduce the numbers of cars on our roads, and support facilities such as youth clubs where they can hang out. Perhaps as a compensation for the social media ban, a government incentive to give out activity vouchers, as has been done in Scandinavia, would encourage children to pursue hobbies instead of vegging at home on their smartphones and tablets.
All I have noticed since high school children have received smartphones is that parental anxiety has amplified. We’re now living in an age when many parents are tracking their children, and I cannot think of a bigger breach of privacy or display of mistrust. I worry that in the near future we’ll see children who think that tracking each other is so normal, that if they get together with an ill-intentioned partner they’ll agree to have their every move tracked and suffer for it. The irony is that parents give their children phones to be safer, yet there are dangers online. The social media ban will address some of these, but it won’t protect anyone from the issues that come from smartphone addiction and overusing devices.
Schools have acted to ban phones and use precious resources and funds to deal with this, investing in phone lockers and fabric pockets. Smartphones and social media are disrupting lessons, causing distractions in and out of school, giving children a reason to stay up all night and be tired during the school day, plus they can make bullying worse. As someone who saw every craze going banned swiftly and easily in my school, from yo-yos to Tamagotchis, it baffles me that banning phones in schools requires legislation, especially as smartphones cause more problems than yo-yos, Tamagotchis or anything I ever snuck into school.
The age restrictions should have been on the screens, rather than just banning social media
From the research that I have undertaken, I think that the priority should have been to put age limits on smartphones and tablets. Yes, social media is addictive and designed to keep you hooked, however the smartphones and tablets are what allow people to use these apps all day, every day. As someone who has unfortunately been too close to other people’s addictions, I have witnessed recognisably additive behaviour when grown adults have been asked not to use their phones or not to broadcast their phone conversations in public places. If adults can’t handle their phone use, how can we expect developing brains to cope?
It starts with adults
Adults are how most children get their smartphone or tablet in the first place, and when children see the grown ups using their phones too often, they want a smartphone too. Once they start using the devices, they are hooked. It’s our responsibility to demonstrate good tech behaviour as a starting point before controlling children’s phone usage. Using our smartphones too much is not good for us either.
Teenagers will get one-over on their parents, and the tech companies
Yes, many teenagers will work out ways to get around a social media ban, and a ban won’t mean that everyone under 16 now will stop using social media at the drop of a hat. What a social media ban will do is give parents legitimate grounds to start stopping children from using social media, and cause parents to step back and think about this issue. I have seen babies being handed Mummy or Daddy’s smartphone and let loose on TikTok, a video site that throws up all kinds of videos in rapid succession. Hopefully if the younger children are stopped from starting to use social media and devices at a young age then we’ll be taking a step in the right direction. When children don’t have devices, they won’t miss them and I hope the social media ban also makes parents think twice before they hand their children a device in the first place.
Tech companies will need to work out better ways to comply with the social media ban as well, because Australian teenagers are reportedly not finding it too difficult get around the new rules. With their millions of dollars of profit, big tech could easily do this if they wanted to, and they should not be let off the hook just because we’ve introduced a social media ban.
YouTube
Author Lee Coates also told me that “From my experience with my two boys, YouTube is the automatic go-to in even the smallest moments of boredom. It seems addictive and quite often inane. I look forward to a day when kids have to think of things to occupy their brains rather than just grab the nearest phone.”
YouTube is a platform where videos are hosted. There is nothing wrong with children watching videos. As many critics of the social media ban have pointed out, videos can be inspirational and educational. But YouTube contains everything, and although they aren’t the worst offender (in terms of content of an adult nature), the bulk of their content is not made for children.
As Lee points out, a lot of YouTube content doesn’t offer much substance. Much of the content on YouTube is unregulated and what is aimed at younger users is not always suitable for them, plus you do get some pranksters who create adult versions of popular cartoons like Spongebob and Peppa Pig which can play without warning. The rapid pace of many of the cartoons on YouTube are designed to hook viewers, rather than engage them in a meaningful way. Programmes made for children’s channels on television such as Cbeebies are carefully created or selected with their small audience in mind. YouTube videos can be created by anyone who wants more clicks. This is also the case for YouTube Kids, even though it is supposed to have the small improvement of omitting many of the video nasties.
As a side note, whenever I upload videos to my own YouTube channel, the platform asks me as the creator to confirm myself if my own content is created for children or not. Anyone can claim that their content is created for children, so I don’t see how it’s difficult to upload inappropriate content to YouTube Kids, at least for a while until it’s found by a moderator.
Banning YouTube isn’t just about the content on the platform. Many children are allowed to watch endless streams of videos and having sound and stimulation constantly on in the background isn’t healthy for anyone. As human beings, we have not evolved to become surrounded by noise all of the time.
There’s a need for tech
I’m not suggesting that all children should grow up tech-free. I’m suggesting that any tech that is used is restricted, monitored and kept in one place. A shared computer allows you to more easily limit a child’s screen use, as well as keep an eye on what is being done on it. Videos finish and a television can be turned off. Age-appropriate video games can be fun and coding is an important skill.
If you’re a parent reading this, and you can’t handle the idea of not having a digital line to your child, there are lots of dumb phones available on the market which will allow them to ring you if necessary.
There’s a lot, lot more that I could say about this issue, and I’m more than happy to contribute to the discussions that media outlets are having about this.
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