Banning social media is not the answer to preserving mental well-being

The researchers advocate supporting children's online well-being. — AFP

SOCIAL networks are often accused of all manner of evils. But social media bans may not be the answer to improving young people’s online safety and preserving their mental health, researchers say.

While social networking sites, and screens more generally, are often singled out as being harmful to young people’s mental health, research by Professor Eiko Fried of Leiden University (Netherlands) and Margarita Panayiotou of Manchester University, Britain, suggests that there is no concrete evidence to support such claims.