Teenagers living in the United Kingdom have widely raised their voices against the ban on social media on children under the age of 16. This ban was implemented to protect young users from online harms, whereas teenagers have argued that these restrictions affect the activities in which they use social media daily.
The same restrictions and debates were noticed in Australia, where authorities were emphasizing limiting social media access for younger users. Currently, the UK is working on gaining public feedback on this ban for a consultation process until May.
Teenagers have proposed their arguments by demonstrating how they use platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat for communication and staying connected with the latest information and trends. Many of them have also proposed how social media assists them in exploring new opportunities and sharing creative content.
Whereas a significant number of young users also portray its downsides by expressing how the majority of teenagers spend hours scrolling on social media content, and at times become targets of online bullying. Moreover, a few have also reported how social media posts and feeds negatively affect body image.
Despite these restrictions, many teenagers have raised this concern about how this ban has pushed them to use alternative tools such as VPNs to bypass controls. This will also encourage teenagers to use social media before reaching the official age limit.
Many experts studying the use of social media and children’s behaviour have demonstrated this issue to be complex. Some institutions working on such research, such as the University of Cambridge, suggest that social media does not affect all teenagers in the same way. Whereas few claim that it hurts them.
The government is still working on a solution to this debate but has also highlighted a major concern about balancing the use of social media among young children. As a result, they can focus on other important daily activities.