Four-year-olds to learn perils of social media
CHILDREN as young as four will for the first time be taught about how social media affects their mental health, the Government announces today.
Compulsory health education lessons, due to be introduced next year, will encourage children to limit their time on Facebook, smartphones and games consoles and spend more time outdoors with friends.
Damian Hinds, the Education Secretary, said the plans had been drawn up in response to new pressures placed on children by the “seamless” merging of their “online and offline” lives.
From September 2020, younger pupils will be given detailed guidance about online safety and navigating the “pitfalls and dangers” of the internet, while lessons for teenagers will be more heavily focused on social media.
Health education is one of three new subjects being added to the curriculum, alongside relationships education
in primary schools and relationships and sex education in secondary schools. Ministers hope the classes will bolster students’ resilience and help them cope better with major societal and cultural changes.
The Government is already working with the NHS to deliver support in every school, amid growing concern that excessive screen time and social media use is helping fuel a mental health crisis among adolescents.
The announcement coincides with The Daily Telegraph’s campaign for a statutory duty of care to be imposed on social media firms to do more to protect children from online harms.
Calls for more stringent regulation have intensified following the case of Molly Russell, the 14-year-old schoolgirl who took her own life in 2017. Her family found material relating to depression and suicide on her Instagram account after her death.
Mr Hinds said the lessons would emphasise the “importance of getting away from the screen and headphones”.
“Growing up and adolescence are hard enough, but the internet and social media add new pressures,” he said. “It will help children learn how to look after themselves, physically and mentally … and it can help young people be resilient.”
The focus for primary-aged children will be self-care and ensuring they understand the importance of getting enough sleep, as well as eating healthily and staying active. They will also receive lessons in online safety.
At secondary schools, the lessons will place more weight on social media, as well as empathy and encouraging students to look for signs of illnesses such as anxiety and depression in both themselves and their peers.
Amid a rise in cyberbullying and “sexting” and growing concern about the prevalence of pornography, pupils will also be taught about the “serious risks” involved in sharing private photos and viewing harmful content.
According to the curriculum guidelines produced today, secondary pupils will also be taught about female genital mutilation and other forms of honourbased abuse, as well as grooming, forced marriage and domestic abuse, the Department for Education has said.
Anna Feuchtwang, the chief executive of campaign group the National Children’s Bureau, described the guidance as “a welcome step forward in preparing children for adulthood, improving their well-being and keeping them safe and healthy”.
♦ Switching hands or even fingers on a computer or smartphone could help millions avoid potential disabilities from ailments such as “selfie elbow” and “texting thumb”, according to health experts from UT Southwestern Medical Centre, in Dallas, Texas. Switching hands could also strengthen the brain and improve dexterity.