Offline man says smartphone ban would be difficult

Luke Young, from Brighton, came off of social media completely at the age of 18

A Brighton man who has been offline for six years has said enforcing a smartphone ban on children would be difficult.

Luke Young, who came off social media completely at the age of 18, said: "I think the difficulty is that if they do ban it and treat it like a substance, then I think a lot of people will use it secretly."

A poll commissioned by Parentkind suggests that 58% of parents surveyed believed the government should introduce a ban on smartphones for under-16s.

A government spokesperson said: "The educational and social benefits of technology are immense, but this should not come at the expense of children's safety."

'Very tough'

Mr Young, now 24, said being on social media made him less sociable in person.

"Every bit of socialising was associated with an online activity," Mr Young said, as he explained being online made him anxious in group settings and entering a room.

However, he said coming offline was still "very tough," especially when he was at university.

He told BBC Radio Sussex enforcing a ban on smartphones would be "complicated" as the "benefits are so obvious and strong" for those wanting to fit in at school.

The survey commissioned by Parentkind consisted of 2,496 parents of school-aged children in England.

It found 83% parents said they felt smartphones were "harmful" to children and young people.

Mr Young said vulnerable people, especially teenagers, should "have proper guidance" on how to be online safely.

In February, schools in England were given non-statutory government guidance intended to stop the use of mobile phones during school hours.

A government spokesperson said once the Online Safety Act was implemented it would require platforms to "enforce their age limits and protect children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content".