Australia recently banned social media for children and adolescents under the age of 16. What do you think of that?
Like many other media scientists, I thought this response was ill-conceived. How will you be able to handle media competently at the age of 16 if you have no prior experience? The Australian government did not present any suggestions for this.
There are already some legal regulations prohibiting young people from using certain apps.
But they use them, nevertheless. On the one hand, this raises the question: who really checks? On the other hand, there is a lot of content on social media that is inappropriate for children and adolescents. The platforms are actually obliged to remove such content. However, they do not sufficiently comply with this legal obligation.
Children spend too much time on their phones and laptops. How much media consumption is good for their development?
The question is, rather, how and with what guidance should they consume? From the KIM study, which has been investigating the media habits of children aged six to 13 since 1999, we know that 50% of children do not get any guidance from their parents as to which media are age-appropriate and to what extent they are allowed to use them. They are left to themselves in many ways.
How many hours of media use per day do you think are still acceptable?
It is difficult to answer this question unequivocally. For very young children, it is recommended to limit screen time, including television and digital content, to half an hour. When it comes to schoolchildren, the discussion already begins: What counts as media time? Is it only about use during leisure time or also for studying? If children have something explained to them by educational programs like “The Show with the Mouse”, is that really problematic? Rather, attention should be paid to the role that media play in children's lives. Does it come at the cost of meeting friends? Do they neglect sports and other hobbies? Does it lead to addiction-like behavior? This is where I would draw the line.
With what consequence?
We often react with bans and take away the mobile phone or tablet. In this way, we prevent the undesirable behavior, but we do not create awareness for using media well. It is more important to talk to the child about why he or she is glued to the screen all the time and to show alternatives.
What do we actually mean by media competence?
This is often seen as synonymous with using information competently. This, however, is a very limited understanding of media competence. It is also about what information I share about myself on the internet and how I protect my own privacy and personal details. How can I assess which content is appropriate for me or what I should rather stay away from? Children should be made more aware of the fact that it can be good to involve adults when they encounter things on the internet that frighten them.
When should children receive their first device?
80-90% of third-graders have their own mobile phone. This, of course, is due to the children’s wish to have a smartphone, but also parents wanting to be able to reach their child at any time instead of calling the school office in an urgent case. For children in elementary school it is better to use a mobile phone only as a phone instead of having an unlimited data volume with which they can access all apps and web content at will.
How much supervision does it take to equip children for mobile phone use?
Checking screen time and media content is especially appropriate in the first phase. If you see that the children develop an understanding that they should not scroll endlessly and open strange pages, you can have more confidence in them. Ultimately, parents have a duty to pay attention to what their children are actually doing when they use their mobile phones.
Parents often fail to fulfill this role. Why is that?
Many people do not act as media-literate role models themselves. They put their mobile phone on the table during dinner and interrupt the conversation with the child as soon as a new message appears on the display. They are also unaware of the potential dangers that can lurk on supposedly harmless gaming platforms, where adults pretend to be children in order to initiate sexual contact. Or of right-wing radical initiatives who use these platforms to recruit prospective followers.
What is the worst mental effect all these things can have?
The few existing studies have found – albeit only minor – connections between mental health, obesity, and digital games. And there are gender differences: Boys are more often affected by gambling addiction. Girls often engage in riskier behavior than boys and share more personal information. On social media in particular, they visit websites that can have a potentially harmful effect, for example, on Instagram, where the ideal of a thin beauty image is promoted. Negative effects of social media, such as depression and loneliness, are more likely to occur during sensitive periods in which adolescents struggle with self-esteem.
Media use is often demonized. What are its positive aspects?
We know that social participation can be strengthened through media activities. Online, I encounter others with similar interests, who also want to engage socially or politically, who are growing up in the countryside, who cannot cope with their gender identity, and who can network with their peers who have similar questions. Children and adolescents can also acquire creative skills in dealing with digital media, i.e., produce videos, write blogs, and express themselves through media.
What do you expect from schools?
School must teach classic media literacy. How do I use information in the digital space in a meaningful way? How do I protect myself? It must also ensure that children and adolescents can use digital tools in a similar way to pen and paper and use these competently in order to prepare them for everyday life and the working world where these tools are commonplace.
Why are German schools less successful in this regard than schools in other European countries?
The insufficient digital equipment cannot be rationalized away. We have no concepts, no real curriculum for media literacy – and a big debate as to whether this should start in elementary or secondary school. There is also a diffusion of responsibility because media literacy is a cross-sectional task of all subjects and in the worst case, no one feels responsible for it.
How should access to digital education for children from socially disadvantaged families be improved?
Studies show that these children often lack role models at home on how to use digital media purposefully. Instead, devices there are mostly used for gaming and entertainment. In addition, access to devices is often worse and limited to mobile phones. That is why basic school equipment with digital tools would be a first step: tablets for the younger ones and laptops for the older ones. We rely too heavily on children to bring their own devices, even though their suitability for educational processes varies. Last but not least, there is the question of how parents can be involved in teaching media skills.
You are taking part in the University’s new research focus „Education for Resilience in a World of Digital Change“. What is the aim of this interdisciplinary research focus?
We want to better address the question about cause-and-effect relationships. Is it really the use of media that lowers mental wellbeing? Or are children and adolescents who are already vulnerable, for example because of a lower level of well-being, more likely to turn to digital media? The topic of democracy education also plays a role. How do young people deal with disinformation? How can we make them more resilient in dealing with media so that they can use them more competently for their own aims without falling for fake news?
KIM-Studie (KIM - Kindheit, Internet, Medien (Childhood, Internet, Media)) of the Medienpädagogischen Forschungsverbunds Südwest (Research Consortium Media Pedagogy South-West)
Katharina Scheiter has been Professor of Digital Education at the University of Potsdam since 2022.
This text was published in the university magazine Portal – One 2025 “Children” (PDF)..