As more countries mull social media bans for children of certain ages and a landmark trial unfolds in the United States over use of the platforms, local experts say the Government of Jamaica must at least consider restrictions locally.

President of the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) and longtime educator Mark Malabver told Observer Online he is seriously concerned about the dependence students display on electronics and social media.

“I have seen situations where students say that they are going to commit suicide if they don’t get back their phone because…they need to use the phone to speak with a person and engage on social media,” he said.

Malabver noted that while some teachers have used social media in ingenious ways to reach students, in his estimation, the harms outweigh the benefits overall.

“On the balance of things, it’s more of a distraction from the learning process,” he maintained.

The JTA president also noted with concern that the socialisation of children is now taking place online.

Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President Mark Malabver, speaking during Friday’s reopening of the JTA’s western region office.Photo: Anthony Lewis

“The extent to which a child may become a little bit anti-social because of social media may be something that requires some exploration in terms of research within the Jamaican context,” he said.

Former President of the Jamaica Psychiatric Association Dr Sapphire Longmore expressed similar concerns, citing the predisposition of children in the region to depression and anxiety.

“Why [some] countries have had to make such dramatic decisions, so to speak, is because when you have broken families and children who are trying to find identity because of such broken families, they are predisposed to the ills and addiction that can come from the social media exposure,” the former government senator explained.

In the meantime, Malbver warned, “We are largely in uncharted waters and I think we are allowing ourselves to get dragged by the technology by social media and not necessarily steering the ship.”

Australia recently banned the creation of new profiles for children under 16 on major social media services like Meta-owned Facebook, Instagram and Threads, as well as TikTok, X , YouTube and Snapchat. Existing profiles were to be deactivated. A similar law passed in France’s lower house.

Malabver called for policy direction from the Government locally to determine how to treat with the issue.

“I have seen that where students try to commit suicide because phones have been confiscated. We are in dangerous waters. We really are. It does require a policy perspective to guide us on how it is that we allow access to social media,” the JTA president said.

Former Government Senator Dr Saphire Longmore

The comments come as a landmark social media trial unfolds in the United States.

The trial, in which complainants allege that the defendants, social media giants YouTube and Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, engineered their platforms to be addictive to children, could set a legal precedent in the US.

TikTok and Snapchat were also listed in the lawsuit but settled before it went to court.

Technology executive and digital transformation strategist Christopher Reckord, shared his thoughts on the matter.

“I’m not going to get into the semantics of the legal wordings and whatever. But these technology companies definitely build build their system to be… I don’t want to use the word ‘addictive’ because it has a specific meaning,” Reckord said.

He added, “but it is built in a way so that you keep wanting to use it more and more and more and more.”

Christopher Reckord (Photo: Betting, Gaming & Lotteries Commission)

Reckord, who chairs and advises multiple national and regional boards on AI policy, digital transformation, and data governance, including the National Artificial Intelligence Task Force, noted that he could see symptoms of dependence on social media even in himself as an adult, expressing full support for consideration of a ban or restrictions.

“One hundred per cent we should start to take a look at something like this. I fully support that,” he said.

In addition to that, he is championing the education of parents, stressing that they ought to know the risks of exposing their children to social media early.

“The poor little brains are now just being entertained by this thing, all of a sudden it can’t stop anymore,” Reckord said, adding “We, as technology advisors, and then maybe the government, whether it’s Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education… need to advise the nation that children between this age and this age, this is when their brains are developing.”

He continued, “If you’re getting them— and I’m using the term addicted— to the screens from then, it’s going to be a problem.”

He cautioned that the country’s position as a cultural and sporting superpower is at risk if children continue to use social media so heavily.

“We have to keep them outside. We’re not going to have anymore Shelly-Ann Frasers and Usain Bolts if everybody sitting down there scrolling.”

Longmore, too, sounded the alarm on the impacts on youth.

“There’s a recent study that just came out, that showed that this generation… is the first generation that is not as cognitively developed, cognitively capable as their parents. So there is a cognitive decline that has been happening with that exposure,” she said.

Longmore also cited short form content as a particular issue.

“Kids are hardly watching an entire movie now, because their attention span is shortened and that is a real thing,” she said.

The psychiatrist also cited as a concern the unrestricted access that children in key developmental stages can have to sexual content on social media.

While sharing that a ban or restriction is “definitely something that we should be considering”, Longmore cautioned that it would take more than that.

She urged content control as a solution to the issues.

“What we need to be pushing is content control where we can have triggers when you start to see certain comments, like persons speaking of suicide or expressing depression to a certain extent that should trigger certain responses automatically that interventions become available,” she said.

The psychiatrist also noted that the essence of the developmental stage of teenagers is often identity versus confusion.

“They are seeking to find out who they are. When you have broken families… that sense of purpose and self-esteem is lost, the negatives of social media are the same ills that would be of gangs and so forth, so they looking for something to belong to,” Longmore said.

She explained, “If we seek to enhance the spiritual identity of individuals, who they are, their unique purpose, that will help to counteract these ills.”

Longmore urged more social interventions especially for teens.

“We’re all engrossed with artificial intelligence. There is another AI that we need to be promoting, which is ancestral intelligence. And grounding in our youth who they are and their sense of identity and their ancestry.”

In terms of the actual implementation of a ban or restrictions, Reckord said removing social media access while students are at school would be an effective and easy start.

“I think it is very easy, very easy for us to literally prevent the devices from entering the school, or entering the classrooms,” he said, adding “Look, for all of us as adults, we all went to school without phones, and guess what? We all are fine, right?”

He emphasised the importance of a play-based childhood versus a screen-based childhood, urging parents to learn about the potential risks of social media connectivity and work to protect their children.