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The argument is not really about minutes
Debate about children and smartphones is often presented as a choice between two clean, opposing answers. One camp wants firm restrictions: keep young users off social media, remove smartphones from schools and treat the rise of digital life as an urgent threat to children’s mental health. The other argues that the panic has outrun the evidence, and that claims about technology harming young people are too broad to justify sweeping rules.
That framing is emotionally satisfying, but it is also too simple. Children do not encounter technology in a vacuum, and “screen time” is a blunt label for a wide range of activities. A child speaking with family, completing schoolwork, making something creative, watching distressing material or being pulled into an addictive social feed may all be spending time on a screen. Treating those experiences as interchangeable makes it harder to identify what actually needs to change.
Sonia Livingstone, a distinguished social psychologist at the London School of Economics, offers a more useful way through the argument. Her position does not dismiss the concern around children’s online lives. Nor does it assume that a ban, by itself, can solve a problem shaped by family circumstances, school environments, product design and the material children encounter online. Her approach asks a harder but more practical question: under what conditions does technology help young people, and under what conditions does it expose them to harm?
The false comfort of the two extremes
At one end of the spectrum are proponents of strict measures, exemplified by American writer Jonathan Haidt. They propose banning young users from social media and restricting smartphone usage in schools. Their concern is rooted in studies suggesting a correlation between social media usage and poor mental health among youth. For parents watching children retreat into devices, lose sleep, face online cruelty or struggle to put a phone down, that concern is not abstract.
But correlation is not a complete explanation. Young people’s mental health is shaped by many pressures, and technology can be part of that picture without being the only cause. Critics of blanket restrictions stress the lack of conclusive evidence linking technology to mental health issues and warn against reactionary measures. Their caution matters because policies made in a panic can easily target the most visible object in the room rather than the conditions producing harm.
There is also a practical weakness in treating smartphones as a single problem. The same device can be a source of distraction in a classroom and a necessary tool for communication, education and creativity outside it. A policy that focuses only on removing access risks ignoring the habits, incentives and power structures that shape what happens once access returns. It may make adults feel decisive while leaving children with little support in learning how to navigate digital spaces.
Livingstone’s middle path is not passive
Livingstone’s middle ground should not be confused with doing less. It is an argument for being more precise. She challenges the notion that screen time alone determines its effect on children’s well-being. What matters is how children engage with technology and the environments in which they do so. Content, context and parental involvement all play crucial roles in shaping digital experiences.
That distinction shifts the conversation from a daily total to the quality of use. Is technology displacing face-to-face interaction, rest or other parts of life children need? Is a young person using it with support, or navigating difficult material alone? Is the platform encouraging meaningful connection and creative activity, or rewarding endless attention and exposing users to harmful content? These questions do not produce a neat universal rule, but they are closer to the real decisions families, schools and policymakers have to make.
It also places responsibility in the right places. Parents matter, but it is unreasonable to suggest that every parent can independently manage every platform, feature and online risk. Young people matter too, not simply as subjects of adult anxiety but as people whose perspectives and needs should inform the rules intended to protect them. Livingstone suggests empowering parents and consulting with young people rather than imposing blanket bans. That is not an invitation to let children set every boundary. It is recognition that guidelines work better when they make sense in the lives of the people expected to follow them.
Space for offline life, without pretending online life has no value
Livingstone highlights the importance of creating spaces for face-to-face interaction. That point can sound old-fashioned only if it is reduced to nostalgia. In-person time gives children room for relationships and activities that do not depend on a feed, a notification or a platform’s demands on attention. Schools and families have a legitimate interest in protecting those spaces.
Yet the answer cannot be to describe all digital activity as a retreat from real life. Technology can support education, communication and creativity. For many young people, online spaces are also part of how friendships, interests and participation in wider culture are experienced. A credible approach has to hold both truths at once: children need meaningful time away from screens, and they also need the confidence and support to use technology well when they are online.
That balance is particularly important in schools. Restricting smartphone usage in schools may be justified where devices disrupt learning or social interaction. But a restriction is strongest when it is connected to a clear educational purpose, not when it becomes a symbolic gesture in a broader culture war about phones. Schools can set boundaries while still helping students understand attention, online conduct and the difference between using a tool and being used by one.
Why the burden cannot sit only with families
Livingstone’s work with Baroness Beeban Kidron points to the other side of the issue: the companies behind the services children use. Together, they played a pivotal role in shaping the UK’s Online Safety Act, which holds tech companies accountable for user safety. The legislation is described as landmark because it moves the discussion beyond individual parental vigilance and towards corporate responsibility for the environments companies create.
That is a necessary correction. Parents can establish household rules, and young people can be taught better habits, but neither can redesign products built to capture attention. Livingstone advocates stricter regulations to curb addictive features and protect young users from harmful content. Her central demand is that tech companies prioritize user safety and responsibility in their product designs and practices.
This is where the middle path has teeth. It rejects the idea that the only choices are personal self-control or outright prohibition. Regulation can ask whether platforms have made safety harder than it needs to be, whether harmful material is too easy to encounter, and whether design choices are intensifying pressures on young users. It does not remove the need for parents or schools, but it acknowledges the unequal power between an individual family and a tech giant.
Evidence should guide policy, not delay it indefinitely
Rapidly evolving technology makes certainty difficult. Waiting for a single definitive answer before acting can leave children exposed to known concerns; acting as though every concern has already been proved can create rules that are poorly targeted. Livingstone’s emphasis on evidence-based policymaking is valuable precisely because it avoids both failures.
She urges policymakers to respond pragmatically and consider a range of interventions rather than hunt for one solution. That means ongoing research, collaboration among stakeholders and flexibility as emerging trends and challenges appear. It also means judging policies by whether they improve children’s actual experiences, not merely by whether they sound tough in public debate.
The debate over smartphones will not be settled by counting screens or choosing a side in a culture clash. Children need boundaries, opportunities for face-to-face interaction and adults willing to listen to their experiences. Parents need support rather than blame. Schools need rules tied to learning and well-being. Tech companies need to be held responsible for the spaces they design. Livingstone’s approach is demanding because it refuses easy answers. It is also more likely to produce a balanced form of digital citizenship that supports healthy development in the digital age.
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