Parents air views on social media ban for under-16s

Parents in Sussex have responded positively to calls for a social media ban regarding under-16s in the UK.

People who spoke to the BBC said online platforms were having a negative effect on young people's mental health, ahead of a vote in the House of Lords on whether age limits should be set.

It comes as one campaign group said thousands of Sussex residents have contacted their local MPs to force the government to act.

However, some said they were concerned that the overall measures might be too strict.

Rachel Greene, from Horsham, said she would back the enforcement of an age limit "100 percent".

"Kids should be out in nature, not on social media platforms constantly - I think it's really detrimental to their mental health," she said.

"Everyone needs to stand together and push for it and the government needs to do their bit too."

Fellow resident John Masters said there was too much harmful misinformation online and someone needed to "sort it out".

Campaign group Smartphone Free Childhood (SFC) said about 7,000 emails had been sent to Sussex MPs in under 48 hours urging support for a proposed amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently before the House of Lords.

Sir Keir Starmer has already said he is open to an online age limit, a move which has been backed by both senior Labour figures and members of other parties.

Tony Russell said he didn't necessarily agree with an outright ban as "some kids use the likes of WhatsApp to keep in touch with their parents".

But he added that under-16s' social media usage should be "monitored" so they "don't have access, with just a few clicks of a button, to things they really shouldn't see".

"Everyone's got a moral obligation to keep children safe," he said.

Teaching unions including the National Education Union and NASUWT have also called for age-appropriate restrictions.

Australia become the first country to introduce a national, enforceable age limit of 16 in December.

Since then, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway and Malaysia are advancing proposals to strengthen age limits and parental consent for children online.

However, The Molly Rose Foundation has expressed concerns about the "unintended consequences of bans".

The suicide prevention charity has argued that they risk "pushing harm to unregulated areas rather than making products safe by design for children".

Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook,X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.