WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY....
WE CAN’T JUST BAN PHONES – WE MUST TEACH YOUNG
PEOPLE HOW TO EXIST ONLINE Comment by KIM SAMUEL, Founder of Belonging Forum T
he Government’s move to ban phones in schools addresses a real and growing problem. Constant digital distraction has eroded attention in classrooms and removing phones should help restore focus.
But it is a policy aimed at combatting a symptom of distraction, not the root cause. Removing devices may represent a quick fix in reducing the problems of ill attention in the classroom, yet it fails to address the deeper problem. That problem is a far more complex question: what does it mean to grow up well in the online age?
For some young people, particularly those from marginalised groups, the effects may be more complicated than policymakers anticipate. Social media is not simply a source of distraction. For some, it represents a lifeline. It is where many find recognition, solidarity and others like themselves, especially when those communities are absent in the world immediately around them.
Removing access, even temporarily, may feel less like a disciplinary measure and more like a rupture. For some, it could feel like a profound disruption to the social world they depend on.
None of this is to dismiss the benefits of stronger boundaries in schools. There is a certain case for reclaiming the classroom as a space for focus, learning and presence.
The recent announcement should prompt a broader set of questions: what happens next? How do young people move between offline and online worlds in healthy ways? How do we preserve the benefits of digital connection while reducing its harms? What, exactly, are we trying to protect children from, and what might we inadvertently take away in the process?
If we accept that social media is a powerful force – and it is – then we should treat it as we do other powerful tools. We do not ban young people from driving until 18 and then simply hand over the keys without preparation. We phase access. We teach the rules. We supervise early experiences. In countries such as New Zealand, graduated licensing systems place limits on new drivers – including around speed, passengers, and conditions – and the evidence suggests they work. The online world demands a similarly deliberate approach. Rather than treating the ban as an end in itself, we should see it as an opportunity to rethink how young people are introduced to digital life in the first place. The goal should not simply be to keep them offline for as long as possible, but to equip them, gradually and deliberately, to navigate that space in a healthy, safe and socially meaningful way. There is good cause for urgency. Yesterday’s announcement by Schools minister Jacqui Smith reflects a rare degree of cross-party agreement, with support for stronger restrictions extending beyond government. That widespread unease is grounded in mounting evidence.
The data on anxiety and self-harm among young people is deeply concerning. Platforms are not neutral environments. They are designed systems that often amplify comparison, outrage and emotional extremity. Adolescence, already a period of identity formation
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and social testing, now unfolds before a potentially global audience. Young people are not just discovering who they are; they are curating, performing and, in many cases, marketing versions of themselves. The stakes are high. But blunt tools carry their own risks: isolating marginalised teenagers, leaving many young people digitally underprepared, and delaying the very education they need to navigate these systems.
A ban, on its own, is not enough. Schools cannot carry this burden alone. Action must be accompanied by serious investment in digital wellbeing education, and in helping the next generation learn how to exist online with judgement, resilience and care.
Parents and carers will need support too. Many already feel outpaced by the speed of technological change, unsure how to guide their children through spaces they do not fully understand. Platforms must be part of the solution. Systems that promote endless scrolling or amplify extreme content are not inevitable; they are the result of design choices.
Because the simple fact remains that prohibition without education rarely eliminates behaviour; it simply displaces it. Young people will find workarounds. They will move to less visible platforms, often with fewer safeguards. And those who rely on digital spaces for connection – LGBTQ+ teenagers, for instance, or those in isolated communities – may find themselves more cut off, not less.
This is why education must be at the centre of any serious response. Bans and boundaries may play a role, but they are not a strategy on their own. What matters now is whether we use this moment to build something better: not just restriction, but preparation; not just limits, but belonging, judgement and responsibility.
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