The UK parliament is considering banning children under 16 in the country from making purchases on their smartphones after observing the support this measure has in several surveys conducted as part of efforts to protect minors from internet threats and social media.
Today, younger generations have grown up with the Internet at their fingertips, and while this gives them an advantage over non-digital natives in terms of fluency with new technologies, the truth is that it has disadvantages and negative consequences that we are learning more about as time goes by.
For example, we have seen how social networks can greatly affect the mental health of minors and how it is necessary to make responsible and appropriate use of them to avoid harm and illnesses such as depression or stress.
Therefore, little by little, both parents and public institutions are paying more attention to these problems and trying to find solutions. In the UK, a couple of months ago the government published guidelines on the use of mobile phones in schools in the country, but both politicians and English society in general are pushing for greater efforts.
In a survey conducted by Parentkind last March, it was discovered that 58% of parents with school-aged children are in favor of the government banning smartphones for children under 16. In turn, another survey conducted by More in Common supported this trend, with 64% of respondents supporting the prohibition of smartphone sales to minors under 16.
Although of course not everyone agrees, and as a member of the Tory party pointed out “The government’s role is not to intervene and micro-parent; our goal is for parents to be more aware of the powers they have, such as restrictions on websites, applications, and even the use of parental control applications.”
For its part, a government spokesperson explained to The Guardian that “We do not comment on speculation. Our commitment to making the UK the safest place to be a child on the Internet is unwavering, as demonstrated by our historic Online Safety Law.”
On the other hand, proposals are also emerging such as the development of smartphones for adults (those currently available) and smartphones for children under 16, which would be more limited and would not have access to social networks and apps that could be considered harmful to them.
