Phone bans don't help children learn to navigate the digital world

Children are growing up surrounded by screens, apps, and constant notifications. Phones and social media shape their early lives. This widespread tech use has raised concerns among parents, teachers, and governments. In response, many have opted to ban phone use.

In recent years, countries like France, Turkey, and Sweden have pushed forward policies to restrict or eliminate smartphone use in schools.

Australia went further by banning social media access for children under sixteen. Across the United States and Canada, similar efforts are gaining traction. Even the US Surgeon General proposed warning labels for social media platforms.

This surge in regulation stems from fears about mental health, declining academic performance, and digital addiction. But are bans truly helping children, or are we simply delaying the conversation that actually matters?

Flawed promise of phone bans

The appeal of bans lies in their simplicity. Remove the device, and the problems go away – or so the logic goes.

A UK-based evaluation of school smartphone policies reported no real improvement in mental health, academic success, physical activity, or classroom behavior. Students’ overall phone use and problematic social media habits remained unchanged.

Experts like Victoria Goodyear from the University of Birmingham and colleagues challenge the idea that phones themselves are the problem.

Instead, they argue that restricting access does not teach children how to use technology in healthy, thoughtful ways. In fact, bans may only offer the illusion of control while ignoring the long-term needs of growing minds.

There’s a fundamental truth we cannot ignore – technology isn’t going anywhere. Teaching children to use it wisely is far more useful than simply removing it from their hands. Without support and guidance, children lose the chance to learn self-regulation and digital responsibility.

Phone bans ignore how children’s needs

Children are not all the same. Where they live, how they grow up, and what access they have matters deeply. A blanket rule cannot work equally for every child. In some parts of the world, especially rural or conflict zones, digital access is a lifeline.

Girls in Afghanistan use social media to learn about their rights and safety. LGBTQ+ youth in China report improved mental wellbeing through online communities. In sub-Saharan Africa, social media connects families to healthcare and support.

Banning tech in these contexts would not protect children – it could isolate them. On the flip side, for children vulnerable to anxiety or self-esteem issues, the wrong kind of digital exposure can indeed cause harm.

The solution, however, cannot be one-size-fits-all. Children’s experiences with tech are shaped by culture, economics, identity, and safety.

Restrictions ignore this complexity. They reduce a nuanced challenge into a binary choice – access or no access. That approach leaves too many children unsupported.

We need phone safety tools, not bans

Some have compared tech bans to public health measures like tobacco control. But this analogy falls apart quickly. Smoking causes direct, irreversible harm.

Phones and social media, on the other hand, offer both benefits and risks. They can build confidence, open doors to learning, and provide much-needed social connection.

A better analogy might be driving. When car crashes became a concern, we didn’t ban cars. We built seat belts, set speed limits, installed traffic lights, and taught people how to drive. The same kind of infrastructure is needed for children navigating the digital world.

Designing safer digital experiences, creating supportive online communities, and teaching children how to use technology with intention – these are the traffic lights and seat belts of our era. They don’t ban the road. They help children travel it more safely.

Need for better children’s rights

The authors call for a shift to a rights-based approach, shaped by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

This global framework emphasizes inclusion, development, and protection. It does not aim to isolate children from digital spaces. Instead, it seeks to prepare them for responsible, informed participation.

At the heart of this idea lies four guiding principles: non-discrimination, acting in the child’s best interests, the right to development, and respect for children’s views.

Rather than removing children from digital environments, this model advocates equipping them to navigate these spaces with confidence and care.

Design also plays a central role. Age-appropriate features can nudge children toward better habits. These could include default limits on notifications, learning-focused content, or shared features that involve families in positive interaction.

But right now, most platforms are not built with children’s needs in mind.

Role of law in a child’s world

Despite growing global concern, no major legislation currently centers children’s rights in digital product design. Voluntary action from tech companies has fallen short.

Many features are built to keep users scrolling, not learning. To fix this, experts propose clearer legal requirements for how platforms should serve young users.

The UK’s Child Rights by Design guidance offers one of the most detailed roadmaps. It encourages developers to consider privacy, mental health, creativity, learning, and play when building digital tools.

Yet these ideas remain optional. Laws like the EU’s Digital Services Act have made progress but still miss key challenges like algorithmic targeting, which can push biased or harmful content.

Without firm rules, companies have little reason to shift their priorities. Children’s safety and growth must become more than an afterthought — they should be built into the foundation of digital spaces.

Skills for a lifelong digital journey

Education is the most powerful tool we have. Not just academic learning, but emotional and social growth. The authors stress that schools and families need to teach digital habits as life skills – comparable to nutrition, exercise, or sleep.

One promising model is called the agency-centered approach. It helps children feel in control of their tech use. Developed through research and classroom trials in the US, this method blends evidence-based mental health strategies with children’s own digital experiences.

For example, children can learn how to manage the anxiety that comes from being “left on read.” They can gain tools to question manipulative app designs or resist misinformation. Teaching happens on three levels: personal understanding, peer support, and adult partnership.

Together, these approaches create a digital life that children own, not one they merely react to.

Phone bans fail without support

While promising, these shifts won’t come easy. Many schools still prioritize test scores over emotional education. Teachers may lack training or time to co-design meaningful lessons with students.

Parents often struggle to relate, drawing on their own memories rather than current realities. They may set rules based on fear, not on trust or learning.

That’s why professional support and accessible guidance are essential. Policymakers, educators, and families need reliable tools to build environments where children’s digital skills can thrive.

And yes, the tech industry must change. Profit can no longer come at the expense of childhood. Until laws reflect that priority, children will remain unprotected in a system not built for them.

Empowerment over elimination

“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,” the authors conclude.

Bans might offer adults a sense of control, but they don’t prepare children for the realities of life. What truly helps is guidance, consistent education, and digital spaces built with care. Strong laws and thoughtful design play a vital role.

The goal is not to disconnect children from the digital world, but to help them grow within it – safely and confidently.

The study is published in the journal The BMJ.

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