Birmingham headteacher questions whether under-16s social media ban would work
Nigel Attwood says existing age limits are already being ignored and warns a higher ban needs proper enforcement and support to protect children
A Birmingham headteacher has questioned whether a ban on social media for under-16s would work in practice, warning that existing rules are already being widely ignored.
Nigel Attwood, headteacher at Battlefield Infant School and Battlefield Junior School, told Hits Radio that when he first heard about the idea, he thought it was “a really good idea”, particularly as a parent.
“But interestingly, I heard a couple of interviews yesterday and it kind of changed my thoughts on it a little bit,” he said.
Mr Attwood pointed to concerns about how similar measures are being handled in Australia, saying: “They might be banning Instagram, Snapchat and ones like that, but they’re not banning all of them. So what happens if children then go to other smaller, less well-known social media?”
He also warned that messaging platforms could be overlooked. “They’re also not banning messaging sites like WhatsApp,” he said, adding that some of the issues schools see involving younger children “have also been happening through WhatsApp”.
Mr Attwood said that social media use already affects children well below the current age limit of 13. “I’m in a primary school and I can tell you a very large proportion of our year fives and year sixes are accessing these apps,” he said.
He explained that problems linked to social media often carry over into school life. “Those arguments don’t just happen at home or on the street – they come into school and continue at playtime, sometimes in the classroom, and we then become heavily involved,” he said.
Mr Attwood said cyberbullying was a particular concern. “Some of the things they say are really unkind, because we get shown them by parents,” he said, adding that this can affect children’s confidence and willingness to come to school.
While he stressed that social media is not “all bad”, he questioned whether simply raising the age limit would make a difference. “If we are not already making sure that under-13s are not accessing these, how will changing it to 16 change that?” he said.
He added: “We need to look at the system we’ve got in place first and make that work, rather than just adding more pressure to that system without actually a plan.”
Mr Attwood said children need better protection online but questioned enforcement. “At the moment, you can lie about what your date of birth is and they’ll just accept you,” he said.
He welcomed the national debate but warned against rushing policy. “It’s really good the conversation is there,” he said. “But if they’re going to do something like this, it needs to be in a way that makes sure that it is actually going to happen.”
He also described the issue as wider than schools alone. “It’s a societal problem,” he said. “We get stuck in the middle of it.”