‘Stare At A Wall: Pupil’s Response To Social Media Ban Goes Viral

After the UK’s prime minister announced under-16s are to be banned from using social media, reactions came in thick and fast.

But one that’s left many people bemused is that of a pupil from Preston’s Tarleton Academy, who revealed that her screen time over the weekend can reach up to nine hours.

When a BBC presenter asked what she’ll do with her spare time (in lieu of the ban), school pupil Isabella responded, completely straight-faced: “Stare at a wall.”

The clip was shared widely on social media, including on the Archbishop of Banterbury Instagram account with the caption: “What a diva.” At the time of writing, the clip had almost 2,000 comments and over 83,000 likes.

“She’ll have to read the back of shampoo bottles like we had to,” said one commenter.

“There is strong research that shows being bored makes better problem solvers and more creative thinkers,” added another.

I doubt any teen will be spending nine hours staring at a wall once they’re booted off social media (in fact, I imagine many of them will be figuring out how to get around the ban – as has happened in Australia).

While her response was clearly dripping in sarcasm, the comment about “staring at a wall” highlights something often missing from the whole social media ban debate: that teens have far fewer physical places to go than generations before them.

My parents often tell me about their youth, when it was completely normal for them to play out in the streets and surrounding fields (which seemingly weren’t owned by anyone?!) and stay out for hours and hours.

When I was growing up, we’d do the same – albeit a bit closer to home. Roads were far quieter for bike rides. There also seemed to be more clubs and activities to get involved with, whether at school, the local youth club or even places of worship (ie. church groups).

But experts have been warning for some time of the disappearance of physical spaces for young people to go amidst a growing issue of ‘social thinning’.

Between 2010 and 2023, more than 1,200 council run youth centres closed across England and Wales, and local authority spending on youth services in England plummeted by just over 70%.

Research suggests that today’s children have significantly less freedom to roam, play outdoors, or gather with friends than previous generations.

You’ve got the cinema (although that doesn’t come cheap), the park, the football fields. There are still some places teens can hang out, but it’s not as easy as it once was. “No ball games” signs still dominate neighbourhoods. Groups of teens are also, let’s face it, likely to be moved on or branded a “nuisance” for loitering on street corners.

One in three young people say they do not feel part of their local community, and young people in Britain are more likely to report feelings of loneliness than any other age group, with 70% of 18- to 24-year-olds reporting they feel lonely at least some of the time.

Banning social media for under-16s is coming from a place of wanting to help and protect children, but there have to be places for kids to go instead. Places where it’s not going to cost parents hundreds or thousands of pounds a year to keep them occupied (because god knows with the cost of living being the way it is, many of us simply can’t afford it).

Fiona Yassin, a family psychotherapist and the founder and clinical director of The Wave Clinic, which offers specialist mental health support to teens, told me that adolescence is defined “by a drive for validation, belonging, connection and independence”.

“Social media didn’t create those needs, it simply became the place where many of them now play out,” she explained. “So legislation can restrict access to platforms, but it cannot remove the developmental needs that underpin young people’s behaviour.”

She noted this leaves us with some important questions. For starters, will removing access to social media genuinely reduce harm, or simply push it underground? But also, crucially, what are we putting in its place?

The latter question is one that I think the government needs to think long and hard about – and come up with some answers, fast.