The scramble by politicians to respond to the fantastic Netflix series Adolescence risks turning into a kneejerk “ban response”, when evidence for the effectiveness of a ban is limited and it may prove impractical to enforce (Labour to scrutinise school smartphone bans as pressure grows over impact on teenagers, 20 March).
Teachers are having to grapple with online influences. Parents are even less prepared, struggling to know who and what their children are interacting with online. The answer is to better support teachers, parents and young people with stronger online safety education in schools. Education on how to engage with communities safely online should be made mandatory as part of personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), just as sex and relationships education is. It makes no sense that schools employ a scattergun approach, where some children will leave with little to no online safety education at all.
It also requires investment in the subject from the government. Online safety education materials and guidance are often out of date, given how rapidly the internet is evolving. These should be reviewed annually, and co-produced by experts. This education must also be extended to primary schools; with 44% of nine-year-olds having smartphones, they must be educated before they receive them, not two years later.
This must be delivered alongside full implementation of the Online Safety Act. It gives the government and Ofcom powers to make the internet safer, but, over a year after it becoming law, we’re still to see much of that become reality. As Adolescence shows, the impact of these toxic online spaces on the mental health of young people can be drastic. We owe them a duty to address this.
Mark Rowland
Mental Health Foundation
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