Social media 'is as bad as junk food' for children
Parents must stop their children from "bingeing" on social media and consuming time online "like junk food," the children’s commissioner has warned.
In an interview with the Observer, Anne Longfield criticised the tactics of social media giants such as Facebook and Snapchat to draw children into spending more time online.
She went on to say that parents should play an active role in stopping their children from bingeing on the internet during the summer holidays. Longfield has launched a campaign to help parents with the issue.
She said: "It's something that every parent will talk about especially during school holidays; that children are in danger of seeing social media like sweeties, and their online time like junk food.
"None of us as parents would want our children to eat junk food all the time.
"For those same reasons we shouldn't want our children to do the same with their online time."
In an interview with the Observer, Anne Longfield criticised the tactics of social media giants such as Facebook and Snapchat to draw children into spending more time online.
She went on to say that parents should play an active role in stopping their children from bingeing on the internet during the summer holidays. Longfield has launched a campaign to help parents with the issue.
She said: "It's something that every parent will talk about especially during school holidays; that children are in danger of seeing social media like sweeties, and their online time like junk food.
"None of us as parents would want our children to eat junk food all the time.
"For those same reasons we shouldn't want our children to do the same with their online time."
Following reports that children are spending more time online than ever before, an Ofcom study found the internet overtook television as the most popular media pastime for children in the UK.
But this messaging from the Children's Commissioner is at odds with Robert Hannigan, former GCHQ head, who has said in response to Longfield's interview that parents should encourage children to spend more time online.
He said parents should not feel guilty if teenagers spend hours of their summer holidays in front of a screen.
Writing in the Telegraph, Hannigan said; "The assumption that time online or in front of a screen is life wasted needs challenging – it is driven by fear."
What can parents do?
So with this conflicting advice, what are parents supposed to do? Like Hannigan, we believe that young people should be free to explore the internet and social media, as there's no doubt they will acquire useful skills for the future, but there does need to be boundaries. At the very least, parents should talk to their children to ensure they are aware of the potential dangers of being online.
Online grooming is, sadly, a fact of modern life online, so we would recommend talking openly to young people about what they should and should not be sharing online.
Online safety book Virtually Me is aimed at young people aged 10 - 14 and encourages them to better understand both the good and bad sides of social media. It has a set of activities for children to work through, which eventually leads them to creating their own personal guide to getting the best out of the internet – and doing so safely. If your child is spending a lot of time on social media, and you think they lack the knowledge of what's safe to share online, Virtually Me is a responsible way of communicating with them, without adding pressure or banning them from their favourite social media sites.
But this messaging from the Children's Commissioner is at odds with Robert Hannigan, former GCHQ head, who has said in response to Longfield's interview that parents should encourage children to spend more time online.
He said parents should not feel guilty if teenagers spend hours of their summer holidays in front of a screen.
Writing in the Telegraph, Hannigan said; "The assumption that time online or in front of a screen is life wasted needs challenging – it is driven by fear."
What can parents do?
So with this conflicting advice, what are parents supposed to do? Like Hannigan, we believe that young people should be free to explore the internet and social media, as there's no doubt they will acquire useful skills for the future, but there does need to be boundaries. At the very least, parents should talk to their children to ensure they are aware of the potential dangers of being online.
Online grooming is, sadly, a fact of modern life online, so we would recommend talking openly to young people about what they should and should not be sharing online.
Online safety book Virtually Me is aimed at young people aged 10 - 14 and encourages them to better understand both the good and bad sides of social media. It has a set of activities for children to work through, which eventually leads them to creating their own personal guide to getting the best out of the internet – and doing so safely. If your child is spending a lot of time on social media, and you think they lack the knowledge of what's safe to share online, Virtually Me is a responsible way of communicating with them, without adding pressure or banning them from their favourite social media sites.
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