Children need more conversations and fewer screens

“Children need more face-to-face conversations and fewer face-to-screen interactions.” While this may sound simplistic, it captures one of the growing concerns surrounding children’s use of social media and digital technology today.

The amount of time children and teenagers spend on screens has increased significantly over the years, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. Platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat have become a central part of how young people connect and communicate. While social media offers several benefits, it also presents challenges that cannot be ignored.

One of the key advantages of social media is its ability to help young people stay connected. For students who experience anxiety, social communication difficulties, or challenges forming friendships, online platforms can provide a less intimidating way to interact with peers and maintain relationships. Social media can create opportunities for inclusion and connection that may otherwise be difficult for some young people.

However, there is growing concern about an increasing reliance on social media as the primary means of communication. Many educators and parents have observed that young people are becoming less comfortable engaging in face-to-face conversations. It is not uncommon to see groups of friends spending more time creating content for social media than engaging with one another. As a result, opportunities to develop essential communication, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills may be reduced.

In our combined educational practice, we have observed an increase in referrals related to speech and language development, social communication challenges, and emotional regulation concerns. While social media is not solely responsible for these trends, excessive screen exposure and reduced opportunities for meaningful face-to-face interaction may be contributing factors. Children develop communication skills through conversations, play, storytelling, negotiation, and shared experience; activities that cannot be fully replicated through a screen.

Concerns about screen dependency are also becoming increasingly common. Social media platforms are intentionally designed to capture attention. Features such as notifications, likes, and endless scrolling activate the brain’s reward pathways. Each new notification or like offers a small burst of anticipation and reward, encouraging users to return repeatedly. For developing brains that are still learning self-regulation and impulse control, these features can make it particularly difficult to disengage.

There is also the growing challenge of social pressure. Earlier generations could leave school and, to some extent, leave social dynamics behind. Today’s young people cannot. Friendships, disagreements, social hierarchies, and comparisons now continue beyond the school day and into homes and weekends.

Given that peer pressure is already a challenge during adolescence, this constant exposure can be overwhelming. Social approval is no longer limited to social circles; it has become ever-present. It is also quantified. Children are not simply wondering whether they belong; they are being shown metrics in the form of likes, comments, and followers that can influence how they perceive their own worth and sense of belonging.

Another concern is the level of exposure children now have to content and information that may not be developmentally appropriate. Through social media, children encounter topics, trends, language, lifestyles, and issues that previous generations may not have been exposed to until much later in adolescence or adulthood. While access to information can be valuable, children are not always equipped with the maturity or judgement needed to interpret what they see online. As a result, their understanding of relationships, identity, success, and the world around them can increasingly be shaped by algorithms that were never designed with their needs in mind.

A social media ban for children under 15 could provide young people with greater opportunities to build authentic relationships, strengthen communication skills, and enjoy the simple pleasures of childhood without the constant pressures of online engagement. We regulate products and environments when evidence suggests they may pose risks to children’s health, safety, and development. The conversation around social media should be viewed through the same lens. The goal is not to remove technology from children’s lives, but to ensure that it serves their development rather than shaping it.

We believe that this conversation is not about restricting access to technology but about protecting childhood and giving children the chance to simply be children again.

Jayda Keer is Head of Inclusion - Primary, and Dr Pashu Bhattacharya is Head of Inclusion - Secondary, at Dubai International Academy - Emirates Hills