Social media ban needs serious investment and support, UEA expert says

A social media ban for young people needs serious investment in support systems, not just a start date - according to a social media and education expert at the University of East Anglia.

The ban was announced earlier this year and it will come into force from March 2027 - according to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who is the government minister responsible for introducing the ban.

But associate professor Dr Harry Dyer fears that with less than six months to go, the plans are being rushed through without enough support.

He says that for the ban to be a success, significant investment is needed across social media education and literacy, guidance for parents and carers and sustained investment in youth mental health services - among other things.

Dr Harry Dyer, Associate Professor in Education at the School of Education and Lifelong Learning at UEA, said: "The UK Social Media ban has been announced by Lisa Nandy as coming into force in March 2027.

"That's six months to build up significant infrastructure that's needed to support young people, parents, educators, and many others in helping make sense of this ban.

"I fear that this is being rushed through without enough support for the many individuals and institutions that will need to better understand the implications of the policy. We need a serious commitment to sustained investment in support systems, not just a start date.

"To make a ban more successful, I would hope to see four key areas addressed before the March date, none of which have yet been developed.

"Firstly, we desperately need comprehensive media education and media literacy put in place, including in the Early Years Foundation Stage, rather than treating it as a 'Mickey Mouse' subject as so many UK Governments have.

"Secondly, we need support for adults on how to discuss this with young people. I would hope the ban comes with publicly available guidance for parents and carers about how to support young people, and in particular, guidance for teachers and professionals about how to discuss social media with young people who may be reticent to reveal they're on these platforms.

"If kids are on platforms 'illegally' - even though the duty will be on the platform, not the kids - they may be less willing to tell trusted adults about problems. Guidance for adults about how to have these conversations is vital.

"Thirdly, I'd hope to see serious and sustained investments in third spaces. Rather than a negative policy that keeps kids away from something, invest in infrastructure and provisions for kids in their communities will be vital. Build and sustain places and things for kids to do.

"Enrichment matters more than a ban, and without this we're treating a social problem as a technological one. Give them meaningful 'offline' spaces to exist in.

"Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I'd hope to see significant investment in mental health provisions for young people.

"Mental health problems won't just magically go away without social media, especially as this bans is unlikely to actually keep young people off the platforms.

"A ban without a serious a sustained investment in youth mental health is dangerous, and leaves kids to fend for themselves.

"The government have six months to meaningfully invest in the infrastructure to make a ban more workable. We need to keep the pressure on them to do this."

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