The UK government is piloting social media bans, time limits and digital curfews in the homes of 300 teenagers to inform a national consultation on children’s online safety.
These trials will assess the impact that limiting social media use has on family life, sleep and schoolwork. Both the children and their parents will be interviewed at the beginning and end of the six-week period.
This comes as children’s access to social media is increasingly coming under scrutiny. There have been calls for an all-out ban for under-16s similar to that in Australia. However, three months into the ban and the argument that it would give children their childhood back does not quite stand up: many Australian teens have found workarounds and many are on the apps as much as ever. Rather than a blanket ban, the UK government is opting for a more measured and evidence-based approach.
Technology secretary Liz Kendall said: “These pilots will give us the evidence we need to take the next steps, informed by the...