Young people – world without the internet
As per a new British Standards Institution’s survey, 46% of 16- to 21-year-olds in UK would choose a world where the internet does not exist, largely due to its negative impact on their well-being.
This survey came after some information that a social media curfew that would see children made to stop using apps like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat after 10pm could be made law in Britain.
According to Statista, a global data and business intelligence platform, as of February 2025, 5.56 billion individuals worldwide were internet users, which amounted to 67.9 percent of the global population. Of this total, 5.24 billion, or 63.9 percent of the world’s population, were social media users. Again, as per Statista, as of January 2025, Northern and Western Europe were the regions with the highest social network penetration rates globally, reaching 78.7 and 77.1 percent, respectively.
Interestingly, half of US teens use the internet ‘almost constantly’. The average American spends 5 hours and 24 minutes on their mobile device each day; Americans check their phones on average 96 times per day, or once every ten minutes.
But the British Standards Institution’s survey, as reported by the Guardian, reveals a concerning picture of how 16- to 21-year-olds perceive their online experiences.
The research found that nearly
70% of respondents report feeling worse about themselves after spending time on social media.
This negative self-perception appears to be a major factor driving the desire for a less connected world. In fact,
46% of those surveyed expressed a preference for being young in a world without the internet altogether.
Half (50%) would support a “digital curfew” that would restrict their access to certain apps and sites past 10pm.
It found that a quarter of respondents spend four or more hours daily on these platforms. Furthermore, a significant number engage in deceptive online behavior, with 42% admitting to lying to their parents or guardians about their online activities.
Of note, while online, 42% said they had lied about their age, 40% admitted to having a decoy or “burner” account. The survey also shed light on other risky online behaviors. It revealed that 27% of respondents have shared their location online with strangers.
Rani Govender, the policy manager for child safety online at the NSPCC, said that digital curfews, while helpful, could not stop children being exposed to harmful materials online without other measures being put in place.
“We need to make clear that a digital curfew alone is not going to protect children from the risks they face online. They will be able to see all these risks at other points of the day and they will still have the same impact,” she said.
Notably, smartphones feed addictive impulses through many avenues,
but most strongly through the use of intermittent positive reinforcement and the drive for social approval.
Many sources, and most importantly, peer-reviewed journals reported evidence that the social media addiction breeds and catalyzes anxiety and depression in children. Moreover, the internet use in general and “the specific experience of being a victim of cyberbullying are both associated with more suicidal thoughts and self-injurious behaviors”.
Fortunately, in 2024, top news agencies and media reported a new trend among young people – the old mobile phones, the “retro” flip phones are making a comeback and considered cool.
Moreover, as revealed by the British Standards Institution’s survey, discussed above, and Andy Burrows, the chief executive of the suicide prevention charity, the Molly Rose Foundation, said it was
clear that young people are aware of the risks online and, what’s more, they want action from tech companies to protect them.
As mentioned above, there might be some real hope that the society is starting gradually to prevent the negative effects of smartphone overuse in young people.
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