'Include teenagers in social media ban debate'

A headteacher at a school in Liverpool said it is "absolutely critical" to include teenagers in the debate on proposals to ban social media for under-16s.

The government has launched a consultation on restricting social media access for under-16s in the UK as part of wider measures aimed at protecting young people's wellbeing.

Claire Madeloso, who is Headteacher at Archbishop Blanch School said a complete ban was "not necessarily the right thing to do".

"We are preparing young people for an age that is very new to us in so many ways and we have to upskill them to make sensible choices," she said.

"We didn't grow up with the pressures that they have.

"We didn't grow up with access to social media. We don't necessarily see the same benefits from social media as they will and it's important that they're allowed to articulate what they feel is good about social media so we can keep those elements for young people."

Madeloso said students at the Church of England girls' school were already very aware of fake news, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the negatives of using social media.

"They will tell us what is bad about social media," she said.

"I recognise that as adults we have a skills deficit in those areas and for us to stay on top of things can be very difficult because we weren't brought up in that world.

"For some young people interacting online is the best way that they're going to interact with people and as long as we manage that in a safe and secure way that could be protected.

She said the school, which already has a ban on mobile phone use during the day, aimed to teach children to be responsible with technology.

"A lot of young people have used social media really effectively to communicate, to make friendships and there can be real positives to that side of social media," she said.

"But over many years in education we've also seen that there are negative impacts of social media on young people in terms of their own health and wellbeing, their mental health and also their ability to interact in the real world."

Year 12 student Hannah said she believes positives of social media included communicating with other people and being able to "use AI for the right reasons".

"I do believe that AI has got its negatives, such as young people do use it for the wrong reasons with creating inappropriate images which then leads to cyberbullying," she said.

Rosa, in Year 9 believes a ban would be "a good thing" and it would give parents "a clear guideline" although she was surprised to learn WhatsApp is classed as social media.

Year 8 student Olivia, said she thinks a ban would "help us to socialise more".

"It will mean that people can spend time with friends and go outdoors and do positive activities," she said.

"I do think that social media can be very addictive and it is hard to know how to get off it or go and do something else sometimes."

Rahaf, who is in Year 12 said: "We're exposed to a lot of beauty standards and how people dress how they should behave and it can influence a lot of our decisions.

"But I also do think that social media is really beneficial because I've learnt so much about different cultures from across the world or how people do things differently.

"I think it's given me more of an open-minded perspective on people's different views and attitudes to things," she said.

The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology consultation launched on Monday will "seek views from parents, young people and civil society" to determine the effectiveness of a ban.

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