The UK government has announced plans to ban social media for under-16s, following Australia’s move to restrict social media accounts for children under 16 [1], [2]. It is easy to see why these policies attract support. Many parents feel that childhood has been pulled too far into the online world, and that tech companies have been allowed to experiment on young minds for too long.
I have some sympathy with that view. But as with many attempts at prohibition, the first question should be: what human need is the behaviour meeting?
This is not only a problem for children. Increasingly online lives affect all of us. We work online, shop online, argue online, entertain ourselves online, and often maintain friendships online. Some of this is useful. But it is not the same as being with people.
If we remove social media from young people’s lives without providing better places to gather, play, talk, experiment, belong and become themselves, we should not be surprised if the need simply moves elsewhere. Prohibition rarely works when it attacks a behaviour but ignores the underlying need.
The need, in this case, is connection.
A recent UC Davis-led study on loneliness and social isolation makes an important distinction. It suggests that loneliness may matter more for cognitive health than isolation alone [3]. In other words, the problem is not simply how many people are around you. It is whether you feel connected, recognised and part of something.
That makes intuitive sense. You can be in a crowd and feel lonely. You can live alone and feel quite secure. The brain is not just counting contacts. It is assessing whether the social environment feels safe, meaningful and supportive.
This is where our discussion of health often becomes too narrow. We talk about diet, exercise, sleep and alcohol. We are less good at talking about the health value of a regular table, a familiar room, a conversation that does not need to be scheduled three weeks in advance.
In Britain, the pub has historically played that role. In the United States, the equivalents may be diners, bars, churches, cafés, sports clubs, block parties, barbecues, community centres, and all the other “third places” that sit between home and work. These places matter because they make social life easier. They lower the effort required to be around other people.
A recent UK report argued that pubs should be understood as social infrastructure, not merely hospitality businesses [4]. We should treat industry-linked reports with appropriate caution, of course. But the underlying point is right: a good social venue is not just a place that sells food or drink. At its best, it is a place where weak ties become familiar, and familiarity becomes belonging.
Alcohol has long been part of that story. Not because it is necessary for sociability, but because it has often helped people enter social spaces and feel at ease once there. The problem is that alcohol brings its own costs. It can help initially, but it also affects judgement, sleep, mood and health.
So the answer cannot simply be “more drinking”. Nor should it be a puritanical retreat from social life.
The more interesting task is to protect the social function while reducing the harm. That means preserving the venues and rituals that bring people together, while making room for ways to participate that do not always put alcohol at the centre.
If we are serious about loneliness, we need more than warnings about screens. We need places to go, reasons to gather, and rituals that make connection easy.
A healthier society will not be built only by banning what harms us. It will be built by making the good things easier to choose.
—Professor David Nutt
References
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/social-media-to-be-banned-for-under-16s-in-landmark-government-move-to-givekids-their-childhood-back
[2] https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/industry-regulation/social-media-age-restrictions
[3] https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/loneliness-drives-cognitive-impairment-and-shorter-life-more-social-isolation-new-study
[4] https://wpistrategy.squarespace.com/pubs-as-social-infrastructure
