News item | 17-06-2025 | 13:00
Intensive screen and social media use can be bad for the (mental) health and development of children. This includes sleeping problems, panic attacks, depressive symptoms, reduced concentration and a negative self -image. State Secretary Vincent Karremans (Youth, Prevention and Sport) therefore today presents the ‘Guidelines for healthy and responsible screen and social media use’. The guidelines, based on the research of scientists, experts and social organizations, should offer parents and educators guidance in the media education of their children. The most important advice is an age advice of 15 years for social media, such as Instagram and Tiktok.
State Secretary Karremans: “Social media can be fun and connecting, but its addictive effect also has a huge shadow side. Almost 13% of young people even runs the risk of problematic social media use. We want children to be able to grow up healthy and safely and support parents. That is why we now come up with clear, unambiguous guidelines to help them with that. ”
Clear age standards Social media
The guideline makes a clear difference between two types of apps: chatapps such as WhatsApp and Signal, and social media such as Instagram and Tiktok. The advice is to let children only start chatapps in high school. Research shows that they can still be guided well by parents in those first years. A step -by -step structure helps: first learn to communicate via chat, then only get to know social media.
To set a clear standard, a minimum age of 15 years is advised for social media platforms such as Instagram and Tiktok. This age limit also fits in with the age limit that other countries have set as advice.
Healthy screen use
In addition to tips for parents about the conversation with your child, the guideline also contains recommendations for a maximum screen time per age category. For children under the age of 2, screen use is not recommended, while the advice for young people aged 12 and older is not to spend more than 3 hours a day behind a screen. In addition, the guideline emphasizes that healthy screen use is more than limiting time. It is also about the balance between screen time and other activities, using media together, and promoting positive online experiences. From a health perspective, the State Secretary advises an advisory age for the first smartphone from group 8. It is up to educators, for example, to start practicing with their children with smartphone use with their children, for example.
After the summer, the Ministry of the Interior starts a public campaign to help parents with their child’s first smartphone use. They get practical tips to protect their child online. The guideline is part of the campaign.
European cooperation
In addition to the Directive, State Secretary Karremans argues for more European cooperation. The focus is on the strengthening of European legislation aimed at digital services and in particular aimed at the effective implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA). In addition, he argues for uniform age standards for social media throughout Europe, so that compliance and enforcement become easier and more effective.