Be honest – how much time do you spend on social media every day? An hour? Two? Three? Would you, if questioned, lie about the number of times you log into Facebook in a 24-hour period – a bit like when the doctor grills you on your weekly alcohol unit intake? My iPhone has taken to telling me exactly how long various platforms have had me in their grip and, let me tell you dear reader, those graphs do not make a pretty sight.
Now, in my defence, I have to be on social media for my job; it is no good being a journalist and not staying up to date with current affairs. It is also quite often where I find ideas for stories. But laughing at endless cat videos is not, I am well aware, a route to career enhancement.
And while some of that incriminating data spat at me by my phone can be attributed to my job, a great deal is down to my mindless scrolling over lunch or before bedtime. I know it is not really good for me. Screens steal time and creativity and human connection. In the half hour I spent admiring my mate’s holiday pictures on Instagram, I could have spoken to her on the phone for a first-hand account of the villa and mosquito bites. And some of the stuff which pops up unbidden is, well, frankly grim.
But if you and I – grown adults – find it hard to resist the pull of the screen and the navigating of the seedy underbelly of social media, what chance do our inexperienced and impressionable youngsters have? So I read with interest about the debate around banning under-16s from social platforms. A government consultation on children’s online experiences, covering app curfews, limits on addictive features and a possible outright under-16 ban, closed last week. It spoke to teachers, professionals, parents and children about what measures might be taken to protect young minds. The results will help ministers decide next steps in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026.
Now, it is easy to see a total ban as the solution. We all want to keep our kids safe, both from harmful content and online addiction, and this feels like the straightforward option. But a total ban is treating the symptoms and not the problem; we are penalising the user and not the platforms. Kids today are tech savvy and will inevitably get round any ban. Age verification requirements can be bypassed which itself will introduce new dangers. And a total social media lockout may deprive some youngsters of supportive online communities, leaving them feeling alone and at greater risk than ever.
Far better to place the onus on the companies themselves. There needs to be stricter guardrails imposed on these tech giants, zero tolerance enforcement of harmful content and heavier penalties for any breaches. Anything else just lets them off the hook. The kids do not need fixing. The algorithm does.
One More Thing...
Top of our girls’ talk agenda these days is our attempt to do more exercise. Some have a goal – a wedding, a big holiday – so want to be match fit for M&S occasion wear. For others it is the chance to cast off the bed socks and blanket routine of winter. For all, it is an opportunity to invest in our health given Father Time and Mother Nature seem to be ganging up on us.
Being ‘beach body ready’, that dreadful phrase, is not the aim. We long ago realised those ads featuring people with tans and taught tummies are nonsense. It simply comes down to packing a decent novel and shaving your legs. Mind you, some of us are taking it more seriously than others. One mate recently announced she was doing the ‘Couch to 5k’ programme.
“Oh, I have done the first half of that,” replied another. We thought she was being smug until we realised she just meant the couch bit. Still, it is a start.
