Health Talk: Is banning smartphone use among children the ideal way?

If experts in The British Medical Journal (BMJ) study published recently are to be believed, it is a bad idea in the long run

How realistic is the idea of banning smartphone and social media use for children if you want to rein in their use of technology? If experts in The British Medical Journal (BMJ) study published recently are to be believed, it is a bad idea in the long run.

How realistic is the idea of banning smartphone and social media use for children if you want to rein in their use of technology? (AFP/ Representative photo)

The experts argue that banning smartphone and social media access alone will fail to equip children for healthy use of technology even though bans on smartphone and social media access have been advocated in many countries to protect children from harm despite lack of evidence on their effects.

Instead, they say, the focus should shift to a rights-based approach, underpinned by age- appropriate design and education, that protects children from harm while developing skills to help them participate in a digital society.

Citing observations from an evaluation of school smartphone policies in England, the authors said that restricted smartphone use in schools was not associated with benefits to adolescent mental health and wellbeing, physical activity and sleep, educational attainment, or classroom behaviour. It also found no evidence of school restrictions being associated with lower levels of overall phone or media use or problematic social media use.

While technology-free moments and spaces are important for children, the authors argue that blanket restrictions are “stop gap solutions that do little to support children’s longer term healthy engagement with digital spaces across school, home, and other contexts, and their successful transition into adolescence and adulthood in a technology filled world.”

Instead, they called for a rights-based approach to smartphone and social media use, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which recommends ways of protecting children from harm while nurturing the healthy development of smartphone and social media use.

According to the authors, the immediate priorities are to improve legislation for the tech industry grounded in children’s rights and create professional training and guidance for schools, teachers, and parents to help them be actively involved in the development of children’s healthy technology use and in shaping future policies and approaches.

They acknowledge several potential challenges, but say in the longer term, this approach is likely to be more beneficial and sustainable as it is focused on building a safe ecosystem in a digital society.

“Ultimately, there is a need to shift debates, policies, and practices from a sole focus on restricting smartphone and social media access toward an emphasis on nurturing children’s skills for healthy technology use,” they said in the study.

It should not be difficult to comprehend that how this approach suggested by The BMJ authors is more practical and likely having higher chances of success in ensuring sensible use of technology among the younger generation.