Sir, – Smartphones have transformed childhood. Being online is now part of how children communicate, learn, play and obtain information. Irish children are no exception. The 2026 CyberSafeKids survey of more than 7,000 children found that 70 per cent of eight- to 15-year-olds had accounts on social media platforms intended for those aged above 13. Social media use among older children was almost universal.
This rapid change has generated understandable concern. Jonathan Haidt, a world-renowned social psychologist, has described a “great rewiring of childhood”, linking the transition to a phone-based childhood with deteriorating youth mental health and advocating delaying smartphones until approximately 14 and social media until 16.
Although the evidence base is more nuanced, small and predominantly correlational, stronger associations have been found with problematic or compulsive use and exposure to harmful content. Causality is also difficult to establish, as vulnerable youth may use digital environments differently, while those environments may exacerbate existing difficulties.
The digital environment now extends far beyond smartphones. Children move between social media, messaging and video-sharing platforms, gaming and online marketplaces, and increasingly generative artificial intelligence (Gen-AI). There are risks of cyberbullying, violent, sexual, self-harm or eating-disorder content, unwanted contact, grooming, sextortion and sexual exploitation and misinformation amplified by algorithmic recommendation. Teachers are also understandably concerned about what Gen-AI might mean for learning, and the impact on independent learning, critical thinking and the ability to distinguish fact from fiction.
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There are also commercial risks. Children encounter advertising, influencer marketing, in-app purchases and virtual currencies, sometimes within environments designed to encourage continued engagement and spending.
CyberSafeKids reported that Gen-AI was already being used by 55 per cent of those aged eight to 12, and 76 per cent of those aged 12-15. Furthermore, about one-quarter of children surveyed had encountered online content or unsolicited contact that bothered them.
Age restrictions are an understandable response but can be difficult to enforce, and exclusion alone does not teach children how to navigate the digital world they will eventually inhabit.
This was also reflected in Jigsaw’s 2025 youth-led policy work. Young people recognised online harms but questioned blanket restrictions, instead advocating digital resilience, age-appropriate education, harm reduction, greater platform accountability and meaningful youth participation in policymaking.
Digital competence should therefore be regarded as an essential developmental skill and reflected more explicitly across the Irish education curriculum. Children need progressively to understand how algorithms shape what they see, recognise advertising and misleading online identities, question apparently credible AI-generated information, protect their privacy, identify unsafe contact, and know how to disengage, block, report and seek help. AI should support rather than displace children’s development of independent thinking, communication and creative skills.
Parents need to provide developmentally appropriate supervision and boundaries; schools should develop digital and AI literacy and respond to online harms. Healthcare professionals need sufficient understanding of children’s digital lives to recognise harms and help families evaluate online health information.
There are also limits to what education and supervision can achieve. Environments designed to maximise engagement through infinite scroll, notifications and personalised recommendations could be designed to strengthen privacy, restrict inappropriate contact and protect children from exploitation and harmful commercial practices.
Recent legal and regulatory developments increasingly recognise this corporate responsibility and have been brought into focus by proceedings against Meta in New Mexico (August 2026), which highlighted significant concerns about the protection of children online.
Europe is also moving towards greater platform responsibility. The Digital Services Act (February 2024) places obligations on big platforms to identify and mitigate risks to minors, while European regulators have scrutinised potentially addictive design features including infinite scroll, autoplay, notifications and highly personalised recommendation systems.
Digital technology and AI are now established parts of childhood. The challenge is to ensure children can benefit from these technologies while minimising associated risks. This is a shared responsibility across families, schools, healthcare professionals, technology companies, policymakers and regulators, and requires safeguards to keep pace with rapidly evolving technologies.
Ireland has previously shown international leadership in public health, notably through the introduction of the workplace smoking ban in 2004. Its EU presidency provides an opportunity to show similar leadership in promoting a safer digital environment for children. This month’s high-level European conference in Dublin, Shaping the Future Online Safety Framework for Children and Young People in the EU, was welcome, allowing us to move from debate to action and allowing children to benefit from the digital world while keeping them safe within it. – Yours, etc,
Prof FIONA MCNICHOLAS,
Dr PATRICK LEAHY,
Dr MICHAEL RIORDAN,
BRIAN SWEENEY,
Children’s Health Ireland.
