Liz Gutierrez has some strict rules when it comes to her 14-year old daughter having access to her phone and social media: not until after homework, never during dinner or family time.
But the lure of social media is strong, especially when teen girls gather together. When Gutierrez invited her daughter’s friends over for a pizza and pool party last year at her Hauppauge home, she was surprised to see them all on phones in the backyard.
“I told them ‘I didn’t do all this and rearrange my schedule for you all to be on your phone,’ ” she recalled in a phone interview, before they turned over their phones and enjoyed the pool.
Gutierrez was one of several Long Island parents and experts interviewed by Newsday who said they would embrace a social media ban for children under the age of 16, similar to the one officials in the U.K. plan to enact next year.
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Officials in the U.K. said they plan to introduce legislation that would bar teens under the age of 16 from using social media. If approved, the law could go into effect next spring.
Experts have argued there is a strong link between increased social media use and the growing mental health crisis among teens.
- The social media companies said they have taken steps to protect teens who use their platforms. Experts say social media has been helpful to some teens who feel isolated by helping them connect with a more diverse online community
U.K. officials said their ban, which could go into effect by the spring of next year, includes Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X. It would also bar livestreaming and “stranger communication” even on gaming sites.
They are also mulling “curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling” for people under the age of 18, according to a statement from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and others in government.
Kids will still be able to message on WhatsApp and Signal.
In 2025, Australia was the first nation to ban these digital platforms for all kids under the age of 16.
Social media companies have countered that despite bans, teens have found ways to access social media, and with limits they’ve implemented, teens can form connections and find communities through these platforms.
A spokesman for Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, said it developed teen accounts to limit what they can view and who can contact them. “As we’ve seen in Australia, bans risk isolating teens from online communities and information, and driving them to unregulated alternatives that lack built-in protections and parental controls,” the spokesman said in a statement.
Others say social media paints an unrealistic — and usually unattainable — portrait of life.
“What they see on social media is not what’s real,” Gutierrez said. “Not everyone is always beautiful, life is not perfect and there are only happy moments. That’s why talking to our children is important as well. It’s good to have government guidelines but it also has to come from home.”
With kids aged 6, 10 and 13, Erin Lavery of Huntington has taken a firm stand on social media and phone use.
The younger children are not allowed on social media or the popular Roblox game, which can put them in touch with strangers. The oldest doesn’t have Instagram or Snapchat.
“I don’t think social media has been helpful to anyone in our country, and certainly not to the youngest kids that are growing up with it in their faces all the time,” she said during an interview on Main Street in Huntington. “They spend a lot of time on their phones and a lot of time with it. I think it’s very unhealthy.”
Mother of three Erin Lavery of Huntington takes a firm stand against social media. Credit: Barry Sloan
Australia’s ban required social media companies to set up age verification systems to prevent youngsters from signing in. According to the Australian government agency that enforces the law, “a substantial proportion” of kids under the age of 16 have been able to keep their accounts or work around the age verification systems.
In the U.K, government agencies said they are learning from Australia’s experience and are working to find an age verification system that will help enforce the ban, using tools such as facial and voice recognition, and official documents.
Dr. Victor Fornari, the vice-chair and director of child and adolescent psychiatry at Northwell Zucker Hillside Hospital, says the uptick in adolescent mental health disorders alongside increased internet and social media use qualifies as a public-health crisis. The link has been noted in numerous studies as well as in clinical practice.
Fornari said he and his colleagues hear stories every day from adolescents about what they see on social media.
“Now it’s a routine question: ‘What has been your experience with social media, and have you been victimized on social media?’ because it’s so prevalent,” he said.
For example, they may see material about unsafe dieting or developing an eating disorder.
“I hope the United States will follow now, whether it’ll be state by state or federal,” Fornari said.
“I do think that there would be wisdom to limit access to social media to youth.”
New York currently has laws that require social media platforms with auto play, addictive feeds or infinite scroll to post warning labels and restrict the use of smartphones during the school day.
Fornari said there are instances where social media can help young people connect with each other in a positive way. Members of the LGBTQ+ community, who can feel isolated, “explored identity and obtained support from peers on social media” according to one study.
Katie Duffy-Schumacher, an author from Rockville Centre and founder of the Don’t Press Send campaign, regularly visits Long Island school districts to speak with parents and students about online safety. While the in-school assemblies garner auditoriums full of students, Duffy-Schumacher — a former teacher — said the parent workshops are more sparsely attended.
“I’ll get maybe 20 or 30 parents out of thousands, and I know parents are busy, but this is a serious issue,” she said, adding that many parents don’t understand how highly addictive and damaging social media can be for some children.
Kids need to feel good about who they are, Duffy-Schumacher said. Seeing posts of a perfect moment in someone’s life doesn’t tell the whole story.
Krystina Kehoe, of Huntington, who has a young child and runs a ballet studio, supports a social media ban. Credit: Barry Sloan
Krystina Kehoe of Huntington, who has a young child, said she doesn’t like students in the ballet studio she runs using social media and approves of the U.K.’s proposed ban.
“I always say, if it can be documented, it can be put anywhere,” she said during an interview on Main Street in Huntington Village. “It’s not like a picture and people can just erase it on your phone. If it’s put onto a platform, people have ways of screenshotting that, they now have ways to modify it through AI. You don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Newsday’s Angelina Livigni contributed to this story.
