If phone bans for under-16s make no sense, how to combat addictive social networks?

The UK’s Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Peter Kyle, has walked back on plans to follow Australia’s lead in banning under-16s from accessing social media.

Among the reasons for Kyle’s change of heart are, firstly, a recognition that there is no firm, peer-reviewed evidence about the impact of smartphone and social media use on young people, as well as seeing the potential educational and communication benefits of social media for young people, particularly in the case of vulnerable children seeking help.

Having claimed that an Australian-style ban was on the table in Britain after the Labour Party took office in July, Kyle held a meeting with a panel of teenagers from the Voice of Online Youth platform in London. They shared his concerns about addictive and disturbing social media content, but urged him to avoid a ban.

Kyle is on record as saying that children use social media for educational purposes, as well as to communicate with friends, and has highlighted the example of children who use them to talk about their problems. Childline is a long-standing UK counselling service for under-19s run by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children that offers assistance in cases of child abuse, bullying, mental…