Teenagers are more susceptible than adults to becoming addicted to smartphones as their brains are still developing, according to scientists.
MRI scans conducted for ITV’s Tonight programme showed how the brain reacts to pleasurable experiences such as browsing social media.
While a fully developed adult brain knows when to stop, teenage brains don’t have the same fully developed control centre – making them more prone to addictive behaviour.
Ciara McCabe, a professor of Neuroscience and Mental Health, explained: “When you use something like a smartphone, if you’re on apps that are enjoyable or rewarding, it’s going to activate parts of the brain that are involved in reward.
“When you’re an adult and you’re looking at a smartphone, you obviously have your brain’s reward system activated, but you also have your prefrontal cortex fully developed and that’s like a control system.”
According to Prof McCabe, this means you know when “enough is enough.”
“There’s evidence to suggest that adolescent brains or teenage brains respond differently and in particular to rewarding experiences than the adult brain,” said the professor..
“This is likely because parts of the prefrontal cortex haven’t fully developed yet in younger people and adolescence.”
Prof McCabe says this may make younger people more susceptible to social media.
The study comes as MP Josh MacAlister launched a private members bill proposing a ban on smartphones in schools, and raising the ‘internet adulthood’ age from 13 to 16, meaning under 16s would need a parent or guardians permission to use social media apps like TikTok or Instagram.
But online safety campaigner Ian Russell, whose 14-year-old daughter Molly took her own life after viewing content about suicide online, has warned that punitive parental controls could weaken trust and punish children for tech firms’ failure.
Most schools in England already restrict phone use, after government guidance introduced in February. But Mr MacAlister wants the protections to become law.
Tonight visited John Wallis Academy in Ashford, Kent, where smartphones, smartwatches and EarPods were banned in January.
Head teacher Damien McBeath says detention numbers have fallen by a staggering 40% and online bullying incidents are at a five year low.
He explained: “Students were gathering in toilets and taking photos and videos of people’s faces and then they were posted all over WhatsApp and social media groups. There were occasions where phones were being used in lessons and teachers were being filmed and then that was being uploaded.”
Since January, pupils have had to lock their phone and other devices in a magnetically locking pouch, where they stay for the rest of the school day.
“When we first announced it, I think there was a feeling of disbelief,” says Mr McBeath.
The school spent £35,000 on getting each of the 1,000 students their own pouch.
But Mr McBeath adds: “We’re seeing less truancy. Reports of online bullying, reports of incidents or online abuse, is at a five year low. We were seeing rates of around 29% staff turnover that’s reduced down to 17% in the last academic year. I think staff are happier in a school where they know they’re protected and safeguarded by the leaders in the school.”
IOne pupil, Charlie, sees the benefits. He said: “No one skips lessons because there’s nothing to do, if we’re caught on our phones during lessons they’re taken off us. Parents have to get them after school.”
Another pupil, Alicia, added: “I think it is better because many more people are learning and they’re not getting distracted by all the notifications they’re receiving.”
Almudena Lara of OFCOM, the media regulator, told Tonight: “At present, it’s very easy for children to access harmful content. The average age for accessing porn is 13, but we know that a quarter of Children will be exposed to it by the age of 11 and one in 10 would have seen porn by the age of nine.
“We know that owning a mobile phone means that many children will be accessing services 24-7.
“We have very clear enforcement powers and we are very ready to take action against companies that don’t fulfill their duties under the act. We have fines that we can impose.
“We also have business disruption measures which in practice means that we can stop services from operating in the UK.”
Meanwhile, a growing number of parents are opting not to let their children have smartphones.
Husband and wife Joe Ryrie and Daisy Greenwell are behind Smartphone Free Childhood – a group of parents pledging to delay giving their children smartphones for as long as possible.
Daisy explained: “Smartphone Free Childhood started in February. I started a WhatsApp group with my friend Claire. I then posted about it on social media and it went viral and overnight thousands of people joined the group.”
“As adults, we know how addictive these devices are,” said Joe.
Teen swaps phones with grandad
With research revealing that 14% of teens exhibit addictive-type behaviours towards social media, Libby Bolton and her granddad Alan agreed to swap phones for four days.
Libby, from Bolton, said: “I use my mobile phone all day every day. When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is check my social media, I go through my phone when I’m getting ready. I always have something playing and then on my way to college, I’ll be on my phone. When I’m at college all my work is on my phone. I take notes on my phone. All my work gets handed in on my phone. Before bed, I’ll go through all my social media and I usually fall asleep while doing that.”
But, when she was given her granddad’s ‘brick’ mobile, there was no internet or social media access.
And psychologist Dr Maryhan Munt devised a questionnaire for Libby and Alan to report back on their experiences.
Remarkably, Libby reported feeling more positive and happier without the distraction of her phone, and her sleep quality had massively improved.
Alan found having a smartphone a “nightmare” saying: “I just wonder how she gets through the day because I counted up the other day. There were 290 notifications on the phone.”
Dr Maryhan calculated Libby’s average daily smartphone use before the experiment to be nine hours, which means over her lifetime she could potentially waste 24 years on her phone.
“That is awful. That is absolutely awful,” said Libby. “I’m seeing how everyone’s sort of wasting their life away on their phones.
“I’ll definitely change moving forward. It has opened my eyes to the fact that I’ve got so much more to do in life.”
Tonight – Smartphones – Time to Live Without Them? Is on ITV1 at 8.30pm on Thursday 17 October and on ITVx
