Reclaiming 2 million years of childhood
[.style-intro]New Smartphone Free Childhood report reveals how much childhood Britain could give back to children by raising the social media age to 16[.style-intro]
What would children do with an extra 20 billion hours?
Sleep more. Play outside. Talk to friends face-to-face. Read. Make things. Learn instruments. Get bored. Grow in confidence. Simply be children.
Our new report, Reclaiming 2 Million Years of Childhood, uses Ofcom’s passive online measurement data to calculate how much time social media is currently consuming during one of the most developmentally sensitive stages of life – and what children could gain back if that time was reclaimed.
The findings are stark.
The average child now spends around 2,630 hours on social media between the ages of 13 and 16 – equivalent to 175 waking days, or nearly six months of childhood.
Across Britain, that amounts to:
- 20 billion hours over the next decade
- 2.34 million cumulative years of childhood
- around 28,000 average lifetimes
The report brings together data, expert evidence and testimony from teenagers, parents and doctors to explore how social media is reshaping childhood – affecting sleep, attention, mental health, relationships and real-world play.
It also asks a bigger question:
What kind of childhood do we want children to have?
[.style-link]Download Reclaiming 2 million years of childhood report[.style-link]
