Following the results of different studies that suggest smartphone and social media usage can negatively impact mental health, Florida and Australia have banned children from having social media accounts, with Norway pledging to follow suit, too.
France is trialling a ‘digital pause’ at hundreds of schools, where children have to lock their phones away during the day.
The Netherlands has gone even further by introducing no-phones policies at school. And one of England’s largest academy trusts – Ormiston Academies Trust – is phasing them out.
A Sapien Labs study found that younger people reported worse mental health the earlier they got a smartphone. Other research includes the UK Millennium Cohort Study, which found a high correlation between social media use and depression.
Also in the UK, many nightclubs are banning phone cameras to encourage people to embrace the experience without distractions.
