It would be fair to say that many parents, guardians, teachers, and other adults responsible for the wellbeing of young people, are very concerned about the risks and dangers of digital technology for children and teens. It would also be fair to say they have good reason to be so concerned.  

However, the solutions typically proposed to address these concerns are less reasonable. Interventions like bans or limits on phones or social media for younger people, restricting what devices they can use, or granting parents and guardians total control over their younger people’s digital activity. 

The problem is, such interventions are harsh, unlikely to work, likely to breed resentment and conflict, and ultimately not in-keeping with the available evidence regarding the reality of digital technology, and the impact it has on younger people. And older ones too.     

Because whatever you think of them, phones and other devices are an unavoidable part of life now. And a significant chunk of modern life, including much of childhood, now takes place online.  

So, if we can’t remove digital technology from young people’s lives, we should do what we can to ensure they use it safely, wisely, and in as healthy a manner as possible. 

With that in mind, here are some evidence-based tips to pass on to students, to ensure they stay safe and maintain a positive relationship with the digital realm. 

Ways to keep students safe online 

If you’re going to be using screens, vary the screens 

A young person’s eyes are growing and changing like every other body part. But if you only ever look at your phone held five inches from your nose, for hours a day, the muscles that allow us to focus at different differences don’t develop as they should, causing myopia and other issues.  

This can be avoided just by regularly switching to screens at different distances, whether it’s from phone to tv to console.  

It’s ok to use phones, as long as that’s not all you do 

Children and teens are growing rapidly, and their growing bodies are shaped by the activity they do. So, if you spend most of your time sat down, hunched over a phone, your developing body will think that’s all you need to do, which can lead to physical issues as you enter adulthood.  

We call them mobile phones for a reason. Don’t let them stop you moving. 

Phones in bed are not a good idea 

Young people, especially teens, need more sleep than adults, and at different times. And they often don’t get it, because of school and parental expectations. But while it’s tempted to keep using your phone when you’re already in bed, it’s a bad idea. The blue light, the constant novelty, the never-ending feeds; all these can end up delaying and disrupting sleep even further, causing all manner of issues. 

It's always better to finish with your phone for the day before you get into bed. Not after. 

Keep your phone on silent, and leave it out of arms reach from your bed 

Phones and devices can also disrupt sleep by waking young people up. An alert or noise at a certain moment in the night can throw a whole sleep cycle out of whack, and if you’ve checked your phone to see what it was, your brain has ‘woken up’ even more.  

Keeping a phone on silent and keeping it a reasonable distance from your bed can help prevent this. A tired brain is a lazy brain, and if checking your phone in the night involves even slight effort, it’ll usually choose to ignore it and go back to sleep. 

‘Followers’ are not the same as ‘friends’ 

If you get a lot of followers on a social media account, or a lot of likes on a picture or video you posted, it can feel really good. It makes you feel popular, and respected, and accomplished. And you may well be all those things, but the numbers who like you online don’t really prove that. Unfortunately, people often forget this, and end up focusing more on their online ‘friends’ than real life relationships. 

This can be very harmful, because real relationships are important for wellbeing, particularly when you’re younger. But real, healthy relationships take a long time to form, and require constant back-and-forth interactions, mutual respect, and more. You can’t get this from crowds of anonymous followers, who are just numbers on a screen.  

When it comes to people liking you, focusing on quality is much healthier than focusing on quantity. 

It’s a lot easier to look beautiful and successful online 

Many studies show young people developing body issues or wellbeing problems when confronted with an endless stream of beautiful, successful people living their best lives, which is what platforms like Instagram are always showing us. 

But one aspect of phones and digital platforms that everyone likes is that they give us complete control over how other people see us. And most people use this to make themselves look as good as possible.  

This means that you’re seeing a very carefully designed self-image of people online, with all the negatives and unsightly elements airbrushed or edited away, leaving nothing but glamour. 

It can be upsetting to see all this and think you’re a hideous failure. But you’re not. You’re just seeing the unflattering aspects of your own life, but only the heavily-polished good parts of everyone else’s. 

Understanding this can help you realise your own situation is not so bad after all, which can help you feel better. 

Join the discussion, rather than just sit on the virtual side lines. 

One of the positives of phones and social media is that they connect us with more people than ever before, and connections and interactions are vital for human wellbeing. But that connection doesn’t really help if it’s never used.  

Studies suggest that social media platforms can be worse for mental health for young people who never engage in discussions or posts but just observe the whole time.  

It's much better for your mental health if you’re part of a conversation, contributing your own thoughts and creations, rather than digitally eavesdropping on other people having a good time. That just makes you feel worse. 

Information you like is not the same as information that is true. 

There’s a great deal of information available in the online world. But a lot of it is wrong, or deliberately misleading. But it all looks the same? How is anyone meant to tell what’s what.  This is a thorny issue with no easy answers, but question to ask when confronted with information online is this: do I want it to be true? 

Because if you do… it probably isn’t. Not all the time, of course, but it’s relatively rare for some new discovery or insight to conform exactly to someone’s pre-existing beliefs and opinions. The world just doesn’t work like that. But telling people what they want to hear is a great way to make them support you, maybe even buy things from you. So, any information that tells you exactly what you want to hear should be treated as suspicious and checked with other sources.  

Privacy is important 

While a lot of what happens online can seem very ‘there and gone’, the truth is that most of what’s shared lingers around in some form, for a very long time.  Also, when everyone is hidden behind a profile pic, it’s harder to know exactly who you’re talking to.  

For these and other reasons, young people should always take a second to think before digitally sharing something private or intimate. Especially if it’s publicly. Something you shared because you felt it was a good laugh could end up resurfacing 10 years later, in ways that are embarrassing and uncomfortable. 

Other people don’t want to be involved with your online life 

You may want to film some funny video or take a cool selfie in an interesting place for your online output. But if your efforts to do so affect and disrupt other’s people’s day, they’re going to get angry at you, and you technically have no reasonable comeback. Because while you may care about giving your followers and subscribers something to enjoy, your online life and world doesn’t mean anything to other people.   

If you want to create content for your channels, that’s your decision. But nobody else is obliged to sacrifice their peace or plans to let you do so. Forgetting this can lead to even more conflicts.   

Bad influences 

Everyone has their favourite influencer, or YouTube star, or whatever. Charismatic and successful people can be very compelling and easy to look up to. But they’re still just one person, and if you’ve ever met a person, you’ll know they’re often wrong about all manner of things. Because it’s impossible for any one person to know everything. 

This can become a problem when influencers and high-profile types start spreading ideas and claims that are well outside their own expertise and experience. There’s a lot of good that the online world provides, but one downside is that there’s no quality control. Anyone can say anything they like, no matter how wrong or bizarre, and if they have enough followers, people will believe them.  For this reason, you should never rely on one single person, or handful of people, for your information. Particularly about important matters.  

Stick to who you know 

In the old days, parents would often tell their children “Never speak to strangers”. And while digital devices make speaking to strangers easier than ever, this is still good advice for young people. 

Because while most platforms and online spaces will be fine, it’s still very easy for a complete stranger to knock up a normal looking profile and start messaging others. And these strangers may have shifty motives or dodgy intentions.  

Because it’s harder to tell who’s who online, it’s best to stick to communicating with people you know in the real world, like your friends and family. This means you can avoid suspicious interactions with unknown types altogether.  

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