Away from the pilot, some families are already taking matters into their own hands.
Allyne Jamieson lets her 13-year-old daughter Lucinda have a smartphone, but doesn’t allow her to have any social media over concerns of mature content, calling it a “rabbit hole”.
Allyne would support a social media ban for under 16s, saying the platforms pose a “danger to children” and believes it is “not something they need in their life”.
Her daughter Lucinda told BBC News not being on social media “hasn’t really affected” her and she knows “it’s for the best”.
Ministers say the pilot schemes will be complemented by what they call the “world’s first major scientific trial looking at the effects of reducing social media use among adolescents”.
The independent study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, is set to begin later this year and will be co-led by the Bradford Institute for Health Research and University of Cambridge psychologist Prof Amy Orben.
Prof Orben told the BBC she was “really proud that the UK is home to this really important research”.
The study will recruit 4,000 students aged 12 to 15 from ten Bradford secondary schools and seek to assess the impact of having less access to social media – particularly on their sleep, anxiety levels and social interactions, as well as absence and bullying in schools.
Prof Orben said it is meant to address the current lack of quality data on both what impact social media currently has on children and what difference restricting it might make.
The UK’s online safety minister said the government was not taking “once-and-done” approach with these studies, instead wanting to tackle the matter in way that “sticks over time”.
Kanishka Narayan told BBC 5 Live the government would “continue pretty deep engagement” in studies to make sure “the interest of British kids is put first, and done so in a way that is led by evidence”.
Additional reporting by Emma Calder.
