Almost half of British teenagers say they feel addicted to social media, according to the Millennium Cohort Study published last month. The findings come amid growing calls for Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram), Twitter/X and TikTok to be held accountable for the negative impact their platforms can have on young users.
Last week the father of Molly Russell, the 14-year-old who took her own life after viewing harmful content on social media, met the mother of Brianna Ghey, the transgender teenager who visited self-harm sites before she was murdered, to discuss how they can help protect teenagers from dangers online.
The government has given head teachers new advice on how to stop the use of mobile phones in classrooms, but most schools already have similar policies or phone bans in place anyway. We asked teenagers what they really get up to on their phones, and how their screen time makes them feel.
Charley, 17
Daily screen time 7 hours 40 minutes
Most used apps TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat
First phone Aged 10, iPhone SE
I wish I wasn’t the type of person who’s always on their phone, but I am. I knew my screen time was quite a lot, but I was shocked when I saw it was more than seven hours. I’ve considered putting my phone in a safe which won’t unlock for a certain amount of time, just so I can get away from it and get on with work. But I’m too scared.
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If I went an hour without my phone, I would be really stressed. I’ve just started a part-time job where we’re not allowed our phones in our pockets. That whole first day, I was like, “Oh, where’s my phone?” I was worried because I couldn’t feel it in my pocket.
Every evening, I get home from college and I scroll on TikTok all night. It gets to 11.30pm and I realise I’ve got an assignment due the next day. Then I’m up for the next four hours trying to rush to get it done, when I could have been doing it for the past six hours… But I’ve just been scrolling on TikTok instead.
Every social media app is toxic. There are a lot of nasty people on there — and nasty stuff. The TikTok For You page and Instagram Reels are the worst for showing really gruesome videos, like people getting seriously hurt or their arm being cut off. Social media is a concern for everyone, but I don’t think there’s much people can really do about it now.
Jasmin, 15
Daily screen time 4-5 hours
Most used app TikTok
First phone Aged 8, iPhone 6
When I was little I used to post lip-syncing videos on Funimate [a video editing app]. Once, I posted a video of me dancing and someone commented and called me fat. It’s something that stayed with me.
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Nowadays, people say body positivity is more of a thing. But if there’s someone who’s smaller or bigger, the comments can just be horrible.
I’ve had my phone since I was 8. My dad’s Turkish and was back and forth between England and Turkey visiting family, so I had to have a way of contacting him on WhatsApp over there.
When I first had my phone, I was just playing games on it like Roblox. Then my friend invited me to another Discord [a social platform used by gamers] server. This one was full of creepy boys and men who made weird comments. I blocked them.
But I was talking to people online when I was ten. If I could go back in time and change anything, I would change that.
Social media has such a big impact on mental health. It’s a place where you can relate to people and see videos of people going through the same thing and it gives you someone to talk to. But then you also see the negative. Self-harm wasn’t a big thing before, but since people started speaking about it on TikTok, people became more aware of it. There’s also anorexia, bulimia and eating disorder content on TikTok, and a new trend called “starve maxxing”. People find a way around TikTok blocking these videos.
Tai, 14
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Daily screen time 2.5 hours
Most used apps TikTok, Snapchat
First phone Aged 11, iPhone 12 mini
I regret getting Snapchat at 12 — I wasn’t prepared for what was coming. Random people would add me, then ask me for nudes. Of course, I didn’t send anything and blocked them. Sometimes their names were in a different language, so I really don’t know how they found me.
Nude leaks have happened in our year at school and in the year above. It’s slowing down now, because our school is talking about it more often.
A month ago, I was really addicted to my phone. I couldn’t live a second of the day without it. I would constantly be checking for messages and at night I’d sit there binge-watching TikTok.
My friends helped me. They said, “You really need to get off your phone and start thinking about your mental health.” Screen time can really mess up your brain and it’s bad to do at night, because of the light coming out of it.
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I’m at boarding school and my year group has to hand our phones in at 9.30pm, which is quite annoying. But if they didn’t, I would be sitting in bed scrolling on TikTok until my eyes turned red. It’s quite funny when everyone rushes to the door at 8am to get their phone back.
My brother, who’s 15, is a raging iPad addict. I saw his daily screen time the other day and it was 12 hours. I said, “That’s not normal.” He’s constantly up all night, then he complains he’s had a bad night. It makes me feel quite sad.
I have a reputation for losing my phone. Once when I lost it, my mum said I had to pay for my next phone. Those five months without a phone were probably the five best months of my life.
Jess, 14
Daily screen time 7 hours
Most used apps TikTok, Snapchat
First phone Aged 10, iPhone 6
If I didn’t have my phone for a day, I would probably be really sad and I wouldn’t know what to do.
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Social media can affect your mental health. I got social media at 11. I would tell younger kids not to get all the social media apps at once, because then you’re exposed to everything.
I spend seven hours a day on my phone. It could be better, but there are definitely worse out there. Sometimes my relationship with my phone is healthy, but other times I’m on it way too much and I get really tired and angry with everyone around me. I would like not to be as addicted to it.
I don’t let my parents follow me on social media because I feel like it’d be awkward if they saw my posts. About a year ago, I told my parents I was going somewhere and then I went somewhere else, so they took my phone away for a bit. I just got my laptop and went on social media online instead.
George C, 16
Daily screen time 5 hours
Most used apps Snapchat, Instagram
First phone Aged 11, Nokia
I go to a performing arts school. Everyone’s trying to make it into the industry and social media is the only way to reach a big audience of people. All you need is one video to go viral on social media and you can be making money out of it.
In some classes, they have become a lot more strict about phones. In maths and business, the teacher stands outside with a box that you have to put your phone in. Everyone tries to find a way around doing it. It’s not enforced very well.
It’s hard to tell what’s real on social media, because you can so easily fake stuff now. Sometimes my friends show me stuff they’ve seen on Discord: people being hurt, injured or getting run over.
I feel like the times before phones were a lot calmer. I would much rather have been born in the Eighties. I would have been working a lot harder. I would rather have been looking at newspapers than a TikTok For You page. When my mum talks about sending letters to people asking to meet up, I’m like, that’s crazy.
My parents take my phone away at 10pm every night. Deep down, I know that’s what’s best for me. I wish I didn’t need to be on my phone as much. If it’s not in my pocket, I’m not the same person. When my phone dies, I feel like I can’t really do anything.
I do want to delete Snapchat at some point. I’ve made a few bets with people, saying, “Oh, if this happens, I’ll delete Snapchat.” But I still have it.
George B, 16
Daily screen time 2 hours
Most used apps Spotify, Instagram, Snapchat
First phone Aged 13, iPhone SE
No phones are allowed at my school. It’s for safety, because kids from schools around where I live get mugged all the time. Some of them are really young, small and easy to target.
But mugging is so much less likely if you go to my school, because muggers know you don’t have phones on you. If you’re caught with a phone at school, you can’t get it back until the end of term, so it’s pretty risky.
Some aspects of social media heighten feelings of anxiety and insecurity. I get really down in the morning if I’ve spent last night scrolling and not doing anything. I wish I could stick to the limits that I set on apps — half an hour on Instagram — but I can always say, “Ignore limit for now.” I wish that option didn’t exist, because I’m always pressing it, like, “Yeah, a little bit more, please.”
I used to read for 40 minutes before bed every night and I would get through a book a week. That stopped when I got a phone, because kids my age are always most active around that 10.30pm period. Now I read maybe a book a month. Hopefully, I can get back into it.
Snapchat “streaks” [signifying unbroken daily contact] mean being on the app every day to keep them going. I had some streaks for 500 days, but I took a break from Snapchat. The first day, I was really annoyed, but after three days, it was fine.
I’m in a band called May Contain. We’ve got a single coming out and my phone is very useful for promoting it.
The social aspect of having a phone is hard to put into words. One of the best aspects is the communities you can find, plus talking to people all around the world. You can really connect with people about what you like or don’t like. You get a buzz if someone likes your comment. So a phone does give you quite a lot of validation, which is unhealthy in large doses — but it does feel good.
Lexi, 13
Daily screen time 50 minutes
Most used apps Snapchat, TikTok, Premier League football app
First phone Aged 11, iPhone 5
People my age spend too much time on their phones. I used to love it when I was in Year 5 because me and my friends would meet in the park and roam around and not have to worry about phones. I went on a trip with my friends last year, and we were all like, “Every morning, let’s put our phones in a cupboard so we don’t go on them.” Then we went outside and played hide and seek and football.
There’s a lot of fake news on social media. Today, I saw some pictures of Sydney Opera House on fire. Everyone knew it was fake, but the pictures looked scarily real because you can make pictures using AI now.
My screen time is quite good in comparison with other people’s. I try to keep off my phone because I know it’s ruining my brain. I don’t have screen time restrictions like most of my friends do. My parents trust me and my brother more with our phones than other parents do. But I’m not allowed to have my phone in my room after 9pm on a weekday.
Life without phones would probably be very fun, but it would also be harder. My mum tells me stories of meeting up with her friends before phones, when if one of them had been held up and no one could communicate, they’d be waiting around in the park for hours.
Hector, 13
Daily screen time 30 minutes
Most used app WhatsApp
First phone Aged 12, iPhone SE
I don’t have any social media accounts because I know that it’s not going to benefit me. I prefer to stay away. I don’t have a desire to respond to snaps on Snapchat or scroll through Instagram. I could definitely not use my phone for a day and be fine.
I’m going to try to stay off Snapchat, because that’s the one that will hook you, because of the streaks. I’d rather be outside playing football, which I do most days. I love football, tennis — all sports.
My friends have TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, but I don’t think they have any important conversations on there. If I wanted to have a conversation with someone, I would message them on WhatsApp. I play for a football club and there’s a WhatsApp group for that, where we’re always discussing training times and matches.
Lots of people I know from other schools have been mugged on the way back from school. But we aren’t allowed phones in our school, so it doesn’t happen to us.
Herc, 16
Daily screen time 3 hours
Most used apps TikTok, Snapchat
First phone Aged 11, Nokia
Yesterday I deleted TikTok. I’m on holiday at the moment and I thought, I can’t be wasting my time on my phone when I’m in this beautiful place. I’ve got a bet going with my mum. At the end of this week we’re away, whoever has the most screen time has to pay £20 to the other person. That has really helped me reduce my screen time. It’s been about an hour a day instead of three. I do feel better for it — but I do feel a bit less in the know.
I didn’t use my first phone, a Nokia brick, for anything more than playing Snake. My screen time must have gone up when I got an iPhone 8 at the end of lockdown, because I could do so much, talk to more people and become much more linked with them.
I recently had GCSE mocks. My phone did definitely hinder my revision a lot. I would often have it next to me, charging from my laptop. Then you think, I can’t be bothered to do this, and you pick it up. You go on it to respond to messages, but then you go on TikTok and scroll for hours.
My parents follow me on social media, but I’m reconsidering that because I made my Instagram account a few years ago, before I was going to parties. Sometimes I feel self-conscious posting a picture at my friends’ party, with people drinking. I think, “Oh crap, my aunt and parents are going to look at this.” It’s an unpleasant feeling.
It makes me depressed when I see kids under ten sitting on their phones in restaurants. That really gives me a bad feeling, because I see myself and how I use my phone too much. It really requires a lot of willpower to get off it and stop scrolling and, at nine years old, I definitely didn’t have that willpower. And what can a seven-year-old possibly be doing on a phone that’s beneficial?
I’ve always had arguments with my mum about screens, whether it’s phones, gaming or the iPad. This whole anti-screen thing is a trend at the moment, but you have to see some of the positives. I’ve met a lot of new friends using social media.
Calypso, 18
Daily screen time 3-4 hours
Most used apps TikTok, Snapchat
First phone Aged 11, iPhone 7
I want my screen time to be lower. Sometimes after scrolling TikTok, I get a headache and feel a bit depressed. If I go on my phone too much, I’m sad afterwards.
Recently, I have been spending less time on my phone. I do have time limits set on apps. For TikTok, it’s 20 minutes, but I don’t normally stick to that.
When I go to the TikTok comments, sometimes I think, “Oh, I’ve gone to the wrong side of TikTok.” For example, there was a girl talking about this new AI thing where someone had made AI take away her clothes in her picture. Some people in the comments were saying, “Where can I find this?” Or, “Look up this to find it.” I was thinking, what?
I heard about people bullying certain girls in my year online. My year had a lot of problems with this. In Year 8, people would post on their Snapchat Story saying, “Ask me anything,” or, “How close are we as friends?” or, “Rate our friendship out of ten,” and people would reply and be really mean. It was mean enough that the school had to get involved — we had a whole assembly about it.
I don’t let my parents follow me on social media. It’s more a place for my friends and me. It’s not their business.
Havana, 14
Daily screen time 2-3 hours
Most used apps TikTok, Snapchat, WhatsApp
First phone Aged 11, iPhone SE
When my alarm goes off, I get out of bed, sit on the floor and go on my phone.
The worst thing about social media is it’s very addictive, and also it gives you false information. I’d rather spend less time on my phone. It was worse in lockdown, because I didn’t really have anything to do, so that’s when I first downloaded all my apps and I was texting and calling my friends.
If I’m with my friends and they’re on their phones, then I’m thinking, it’d be nice if we could not go on our phones. At lunch, sometimes my friend goes on her phone while we’re all talking. It’s a bit annoying, because then she doesn’t really listen.
I think 12 is a good age to get a phone, because you know how long you should use your phone. But if kids grew up with it, then they would rely on their phone a lot more. I got my first phone in Year 6; some of my friends got theirs earlier than me.
Our school posts assignments on the Google Classroom app. So I do homework on my phone, but if I see a message from a friend, I might get distracted.
Carolina, 17
Daily screen time 3 hours 16 minutes
Most used app Instagram
First phone Aged 10, iPhone 4
My phone is the first thing I look at in the morning because it’s my alarm. Then I check my messages on Snapchat.
My average daily screen time last week was 3 hours 16 minutes. Yesterday it was 5 hours 15 minutes — it was particularly bad because I watched a lot of Gilmore Girls on Netflix.
You do feel a pressure to have a phone and social media because people my age only use Snapchat to communicate, so if you don’t have it you don’t get added to group chats or invited to parties as much.
Cyberbullying is especially a thing when you’re 13 or 14 with people being excluded from group chats or talking badly about a girl in a separate chat. In Year 6 a girl’s nudes were sent around on WhatsApp, and the police had to come to my school.
Instagram is my most used app. I deleted TikTok before Christmas because I couldn’t control myself. It’s impossible to stop doomscrolling.
I only post on Instagram during holidays, when my life gets a little more interesting. I would tell younger teenagers to take a step back and realise that what you’re seeing on social media is just a glimpse of someone’s life — it’s not necessarily what their life is truly like. I think they would benefit from not getting social media until they’re 14 because you get to appreciate your childhood — you don’t need to be hyperaware of yourself.
Sienna, 15
Daily screen time 2 hours
Most used app TikTok
First phone Aged 10, iPhone 6
My screen time is two hours — I’m quite good with it in general because I’m very busy. I play netball six times a week, as well as squash and tennis. I have some friends whose screen time would be seven hours.
I try not to spend too much time doomscrolling. I’m at boarding school and our phones are put in a cupboard and only get unlocked from 4.30pm to 9.15pm. TikTok, Snapchat and Netflix are blocked during lessons, but everyone has VPNs.
My most used app is definitely TikTok. I’m a bit addicted. When I’m on my phone it’s the first thing I open. I could spend more than an hour on it easily. I don’t post anywhere — I find it makes me feel insecure and judged, so I’d rather not. I only have an Instagram account to follow famous people and see what’s going on with the world.
When I was 11 or 12 years old, my friends and I would go on this weird trending thing called Omegle [a random online chat service], where you see videos of arbitrary people, and it could be a guy masturbating. We’d laugh about it, but now that I’m a bit older I look back and am like, that is not normal. You could be eight years old and go on Omegle and nobody would know.
I don’t accept people I don’t know on Snapchat. But my friends tend to accept requests from pretty much anyone on “quick add”, which is a feature that comes up with suggested accounts. I had a friend who had her location on for friends and she got sent a dick picture in Year 7 and the guy told her, “Send me something back or I have your location and I’ll come and find you.” She obviously had to tell her mum and she got pulled out of lessons one day to get interviewed by the police.
I go to an all-girls school, so thank God I don’t think it’s as likely to happen. But I have friends in other schools whose nudes have been sent around. They’ll think they’re sending them to someone they trust and it’s just not how it works.
Additional reporting by Blanca Schofield
