Around the world there are growing concerns of a teen mental health crisis. Some believe Covid is responsible together with widening inequalities, exam pressures, fears associated with climate change or ongoing conflicts around the world. These issues are real and are indeed contributing to anxiety for some of our young people.

• All of those issues are, however, faced by both young women and young men. Yet, in Northern Ireland, girls are arriving at hospital emergency departments at an alarmingly increased rate.

• There was a 84% rise in under 18 females presenting with self-harm in the 9 years leading up to 2021/22 according to statistics from the PHA; and

• The corresponding figure for under 18 males was a 1% decline.

• For the same period there was a 324% increase in under 18 females presenting with suicidal ideation; and

• The corresponding figure for under 18 males was a 45% increase.

Something has happened to the girls.

What is driving these rises for girls?

There is one factor I have not yet listed. Social media and smartphones, both ubiquitous from the early 2010s. Professor Jonathan Haidt argues in his book The Anxious Generation that there are a number of ways social media companies “exploit girls’ greater need for communion and their other social concerns”; the most familiar to us being that girls are more affected by visual social comparison and perfectionism. Social media is ready to capitalise on this with skincare routines now a common discussion for late primary school girls captivated by certain stores and brands.

Sadly, the visual comparison can lead to much darker places with hospital admissions for people with eating disorders rising by 84% between 2017 and 2022 in England, with the large majority of those affected young women. Despite banning the TikTok hashtag #Skinnytok, experts advise that harmful diet culture content spreads and hides under new names.

What is happening to the boys?

The above Northern Ireland figures don’t tell the whole story. Boys’ mental health may present in other ways and male suicide rates in Northern Ireland for under 20-year-olds remains significantly higher than the female rate. NHS England statistics show between 2017 and 2023 11-16 year old boys with a probable mental health disorder grew from 12.3% to 22.3% which was similar to the rate for girls which grew from 13.3% to 22.6%.

Our boys are not unaffected by the fact that the smartphone in particular enabled children to be online all of the time. There has been much public discussion in the last year on algorithms serving boys what is referred to as ‘The Manosphere’ and we continue to see boys falling victim to sextortion.

Portable internet enabled devices with high-speed internet have also made free, unlimited, hardcore violent pornography accessible anywhere and at any time. 51% of 11-13 year olds have seen pornography, often on social media unintentionally. Ofcom reported that 84% of total time spent on Pornhub in May 2024 was attributed to smartphones; whilst Ofcom is discussing those registered as adult users, it shows a pattern and in the same report, Ofcom cites Northern Ireland as having the highest adult usage of pornography in the UK. With Northern Ireland’s femicide rate being one of the highest in Europe, we must pay heed to the Facing Reality report commissioned by Woman’s Aid Ireland addressing the role of pornography in the pandemic of violence against women and girls. The report references the social media platforms children report seeing pornography on including X, Instagram and Snapchat.

Criticism of social media is not new

Criticism of the impact of social media is not new. MPs in the Houses of Commons have been debating the effect of social media on the mental health of young people since 2016.  In 2023, Amnesty International published a report on TikTok called “Driven To Darkness: How TikTok’s ‘For You’ Feed Encourages Self-Harm and Suicide Ideation” exposing how children can be taken into “rabbit holes” of potentially harmful content, including videos that romanticize and encourage depressive thinking, self-harm and suicide. In March 2026, in what has been seen as a landmark case a Los Angeles jury found Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and Google, owner of YouTube intentionally built addictive platforms.

The debate for more research

Whilst some academics still argue correlation doesn’t equal causality and insisting more research is needed before laws can change, doctors, parents, teachers and now a jury seem to know that our children are not alright. Parliamentarians have argued that, as in other areas of medicine, even if there is lack of causal evidence, given what we do know we should be applying the precautionary principle.  It would seem that parents believe that they don’t need a peer-reviewed paper from the Lancet to know that 4, 5 or 6 hours a day on TikTok, Snapchat or Instagram is not contributing to a healthy childhood.  

The Opportunity Cost for childhood

In terms of usage in Northern Ireland, ‘7 hours or more’ was the most commonly reported amount of time spent online a day at the weekends and on school holidays for 8-13 year olds in NI in 2023 research by Stranmillis University, as outlined in the table below.

Of course this covers various online devices. For smartphones, the average UK teen spends 35 hours a week on one. Setting aside the harms for a moment, we must ask what the opportunity cost is. What are they missing out on in the physical world whilst they are online?

A public health emergency

Doctors also know that young people are not thriving. The chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AMRC) has said young people's use of social media is a public health emergency akin to smoking.

Safeguarding in schools

Teachers know this too. 92% of teachers said their lessons were interrupted by asking pupils to put away phones and 97% of teachers agree there should be greater regulation of children’s social media. It is particularly alarming that in many secondary schools across NI, despite the Department of Education Guidance placed under Safeguarding statutes, teachers will ask pupils to use smartphones in class for some type of educational technology.  Many parents have reported sending their child to secondary school with a basic non-internet enabled phone only to have them asked to use a device in class for research, to access a homework app or platform, to participate in an online quiz or to scan a QR code. Lucy Crehan in her review of the NI Curriculum acknowledged this stating “pupils’ own smartphones should not be used in school as an educational tool”, citing four important reasons based on academic outcomes based on PISA data, safeguarding and privacy concerns as well as risks of discriminating against poorer families.

Westminster

On Monday 15th June 2026, Sir Keir Starmer announced that ‘social media platforms will be blocked from offering services to under-16s, marking a line in the sand and setting a new normal for future generations’. The Government’s press release, rightly points to the vision campaign groups such as Smartphone Free Childhood are built around – that ‘childhood is too short to scroll away’.

Smartphone Free Childhood welcomes the Government’s announcement to raise the age of social media to 16, and parents in the movement of Northern Ireland are relieved that the UK online safety minister Kanishka Narayan confirmed in May 2026 that any ban on social media for under-16s agreed at Westminster will also apply in Northern Ireland.

Stormont

Smartphone Free Childhood NI is calling on The Department of Education NI to bring in statutory smartphone bans in schools. Non-internet enabled devices (e.g. a brick phone without a camera) only should be allowed except where there is a medical need. Whilst the current guidance is underpinned by existing safeguarding statutes, many headteachers are looking for weight of legislation so they are not left to interpret guidelines and navigate implementation by themselves.

Smartphone Free Childhood NI have called upon the Department of Health and PHA to run a public health campaign to raise awareness amongst parents, young people and health professionals.  A separate dedicated campaign is needed to promote the UK Government’s Screen-time guidance and begin this conversation with parents through Health Visitors and other Early Years Practitioners.

Parents

Parents ought not to wait for the government to act or expect that the social media ban will solve every problem overnight. It is our duty and responsibility to do everything to protect our children. Given the information now available to us, delaying access to smartphones and social media is a sensible choice.

It can be difficult for parents to choose to delay smartphones for their child alone as they fear isolating their child. The voluntary Smartphone Free Childhood Parent Pact brings parents together to tackle this exact challenge. At any time you can check how many other parents in your child’s class have signed the Parent Pact and there is strength in knowing your child is not alone. 

Whilst parents wait for Westminster and Stormont to implement legislation, they can act now to reclaim childhood.

Rosalind McClean is Regional Leader with Smartphone Free Childhood Northern Ireland, a UK-based grassroots movement supporting families to delay smartphones and social media. 

Rosalind has been called to present evidence at the Education Committee at Stormont where she has outlined why schools should become smartphone free.  She regularly contributes to media discussions and has been recognised both in the chambers of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the House of Commons for her campaigning work.

Northern Ireland Smartphone Free Childhood is an independent, self-governing group, inspired by the Smartphone Free Childhood movement.  The views contained in Northern Ireland Smartphone Free Childhood communications are not necessarily those of Smartphone Free Childhood, and Smartphone Free Childhood is not involved in the governance of the group, its content or its data.

If you, or someone you know, have been affected by mental health issues or self-harm, the following organisations may be able to help.

ChildLine is a free, 24-hour confidential helpline for children and young people who need to talk.

Phone: 0800 1111 Visit the ChildLine website

Samaritans is available for anyone struggling to cope and provides a safe place to talk 24 hours a day.. Phone: 116 123. Visit the Samaritans website