In the series Young and Resilient, young people, scientists and professionals share insights into growing up in a changing world and finding balance during adolescence. The podcast episode Wise and resilient in the online world is the third episode of the podcast series Young and Resilient by SYNC lab and Movez Network, both of which are part of Erasmus University Rotterdam. In the episode about the online world, Erasmus researcher Chiara de Jong and secondary school student Sascha de Haas also speak alongside Van Hummel.

No life without social media

Sascha de Haas cannot imagine a life without social media. “It is unthinkable not to have it in everyday life. I use it to communicate with friends, for school and with teachers. Social media play a major role in how I communicate and spend my time.”

Nick van Hummel does not support age restrictions on the use of social media, such as those introduced in Australia. “It is naïve to think that young people will suddenly be ready for it once they turn 16.” He does not see a ban as a solution, because it does not address the actual problem. “That often lies in the addictive nature of things such as algorithms. Social media contain mechanisms that we know can have negative effects. If you scroll for half an hour and see nothing but videos about how to make yourself look more attractive, then not only has half an hour passed, but you may also feel worse about how you look.”

Van Hummel does support more regulation of social media. “We see elements that are undesirable and have negative effects. This may concern the content, but also ownership of your data – what exactly is being collected about you? Which images of you are being used to train AI or target you with advertisements?”

Mobile phone ban

Sascha de Haas was in the fourth year when the mobile phone ban was introduced in January last year. “At our school, students in years 1 through 4 were not allowed to use their phones at all, but students in years 5 and 6 were considered old enough to decide for themselves during breaks whether to use their phones. I was in year 4, so I thought that was terribly unfair.” She does think the ban is good for the first year. “Before the phone ban, I often saw them sitting on their phones as a kind of escape, so they did not have to interact with each other. It is good that they now talk to each other.”

It is good that there is a guideline for the mobile phone ban in schools, Nick van Hummel believes. “Those phones are a disruptive factor, for example when it comes to following lessons.” But even with a mobile phone ban at school, social media remain part of young people’s daily lives. “They still have questions about life online as a result. About how to deal with what they encounter online or with an argument on Snapchat.”

Involving young people in policymaking

Van Hummel advocates involving young people in policymaking on the use of social media and mobile phones at school. “Young people often ask for help. They also want rules and boundaries themselves. You need to know what questions they have and what they are concerned about. And incorporating that into your policy works best.”

Do not expect young people to come to a meeting after school, he advises. “If you consider how you can visit them to hear what they think, many more students will probably be willing to join the discussion.”