Supernanny star Jo Frost has made a public plea to the U.K. government to raise the minimum age for social media use to 16.
“This is a message to [Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of the U.K.],” Frost, 55, said in an Instagram video on Tuesday, April 14. “You are a father, a father of two children, so you know what it is to protect them, to look at them and to understand what they are ready for and what they are not.”
Frost continued, “I’m speaking to you now as a British citizen and as someone who has spent nearly four decades inside family homes, guiding them and educating them.”
Frost was a nanny for more than 30 years, starting in 1989 when she was 18 years old. Her British reality show, Supernanny, aired from 2004 to 2008 and followed the TV personality as she worked with families of mischievous children to improve their behavior. She has since starred in several other programs, the U.S. version of Supernanny, Family S.O.S. With Jo Frost, Family Matters, Jo Frost: Nanny On Tour and more.
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“Prime Minister, sir, this is a defining moment for you, because what I’m seeing across all ages of childhood should stop us in our tracks,” the Ask Supernanny author added. “I’m working with toddlers who are already being conditioned by fast-moving, overstimulating content impacting their attention, their language, their behavior, their ability to sit and just simply connect. I’m seeing children as young as seven and eight already being poured into a world of comparison and exposure and influence.”
Frost pointed out that these children “do not have any emotional or cognitive capacity to even process” what they’re seeing online.
“And then there’s our teenagers,” she continued. “They’re struggling with their identity, they’re struggling with their self-worth. They’re struggling to regulate their big emotions at this time in their life, exposure to sexual predators and dark online material.”
David Livingston/Getty ImagesFrost argued that teens’ “executive functioning is under strain,” as well as their “ability to focus, to make decisions, to cope with discomfort.”
“Their confidence is fragile,” she noted. “Their mental health is suffering, and their brains are still developing and being shaped by systems designed to keep them hooked in, not to help them grow.”
Frost added that she’s seeing a “pattern” in parents who are “anxious, overwhelmed and exhausted” as they fight for their kids’ attention.
“This is where leadership matters,” Frost said. “Other countries are stepping forward. They’re recognizing that childhood must be protected in this digital age, and so must we. We have a moral responsibility to our families.”
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Frost encouraged the government to ban social media for kids under age 16 so that they can have time to “develop their brains, build resilience [and] form identity in the real world before they are exposed to the pressures of the online one.”
“This is your moment, Sir, to stand up, to lead with empathy, to lead with courage, to protect not just your own children, but every child in Great Britain,” she concluded. “History will remember what you choose to do next, Sir. Act now. Raise the age, Prime Minister, raise the age to 16. Please.”
The current digital age of consent in the U.K. and the U.S. is 13. The U.K. government has considered raising the age to 16, but members of Parliament (MPs) voted against the proposal for the second time on Wednesday, according to The Guardian.
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