German health minister wants age limit for social media

Germany’s Commissioner on Narcotic Drugs, Hendrik Streeck (CDU), has called for the government to implement a minimum age for using social media, but is against a general phone ban in schools.

Streeck says Germany must limit children’s screen time

With children in Germany spending a daily average of four hours online, Commissioner on Narcotic Drugs, Hendrik Streeck, has called for the government to implement a “strict staggered age limit for social media”. 

“It has been scientifically proven that children and young people who consume large amounts of age-inappropriate content are more at risk of addictive behaviour and problematic drug consumption,” the minister told Rheinische Post.

Streeck said many children have developed addictive behaviours. “We are talking about an average of four hours on social media, two hours playing computer games and two hours using streaming services.” 

The minister called the number of hours children spend online “alarming”, especially because children’s relaxation time could be used for “social, motor and sensory activities” and said he asks himself, “when do these children sleep?”

One 2023 study found that young people in the federal republic spend 63,7 hours, the equivalent of 2,5 days, on the internet each week. International projects, such as The Anxious Generation, have highlighted that an increase in social media use among young people is likely leading to a youth mental health crisis.

Streeck against general phone ban in schools

Despite Streeck’s enthusiasm for a social media age limit, the minister clarified that he is opposed to a general ban on phones in German schools.

In France, mobile phones have been prohibited in primary and secondary schools since 2018, and multiple other European countries have since imposed, or are considering, some form of phone ban in schools. 

In Germany, multiple federal states, including Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, have tightened rules around phone use in schools. But Streeck suggested that a nationwide ban wouldn’t solve the problem. “We want young people to grow up with media and use the technology. [...] but the dose makes the poison.”

Amid growing concerns over children’s social media use and internet literacy, the Social Association of Germany (Sozialverband Deutschland or SoVD) has called for German schools to teach media competence in obligatory classes.

“We can no longer leave children alone with the dangers of the online world,” SoVD representative Michela Engelmeier told Funke Mediengruppe. “Not all children [are educated about the internet] at home. Many are exposed to disinformation, anti-democratic hate and AI-generated content, without guidance or classification.”