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Teachers do not need convincing that children’s relationship with social media has become a serious safeguarding, wellbeing and equality issue.

In classrooms and corridors across the country, schools are dealing with the fallout every day: disrupted concentration, online bullying spilling into school, exposure to misogyny and racism, and growing pressures on already stretched pastoral teams.

With Andy Burnham expected to become prime minister this week after securing the backing of 349 Labour MPs, his support for raising the age of social media access to 16 is a welcome step.

The government’s latest plans for default overnight social media curfews and switching off addictive features for 16- and 17-year-olds show further progress.

But for schools, the key question is practical: how will this policy be enforced to meaningfully reduce the harms young people face?

Protecting young people online

Teachers tell us that schools are increasingly being asked to pick up the pieces of social media harms created far beyond the school gates.

Responsibility for keeping children safe online cannot be shifted onto educators and parents while powerful technology companies continue to profit from young people’s attention and wellbeing.

These harms are not random. Recommendation systems often reward outrage and extremism, meaning discriminatory content is actively amplified.

That is why these latest measures must be seen as a starting point, not the end of the debate. Raising the social media age limit to 16 must not create a cliff edge for older teenagers.

Stronger default settings could help protect sleep, focus and family life, but they must sit alongside action on emerging risks, including AI chatbots that can provide unreliable or dangerous advice, and proper digital literacy education to help young people navigate online spaces safely.

If this policy is to work for children and for schools, three things will matter most:

1. Holding technology firms to account

First, enforcement must sit with government and regulators - not with educators and parents. Nor can platforms be allowed to mark their own homework when it comes to enforcement.

The UK needs a robust approach that includes reliable age checks, safer default settings, restrictions on livestreaming and exploitative chatbots, and clear accountability when companies fail to protect children.

Critics will point to Australia, where some under-16s are still able to access social media despite restrictions.

This is an argument for getting the policy right, not abandoning it. Ofcom must have the powers, resources and urgency needed to act quickly against non-compliance.

If companies can simply absorb fines as a cost of doing business, the policy will fail before it begins.

2. Digital resilience

Children then need to be supported in entering social media spaces for the first time before they reach 16.

Digital literacy and online safety education should be embedded as a properly resourced part of the curriculum, with time, training and guidance for teachers rather than another unfunded expectation.

Schools also need clear safeguarding guidance and practical resources to help them work with parents and carers when online harms spill into school life.

Legislation needs to capture teachers’ voices and views. The government’s public consultation did this, but we can’t stop there. Their experience of supporting students through online harms is critical to ensuring effective policy is designed and implemented.

3. Alternative, real-world spaces

Lastly, young people need real-world alternatives to the social media worlds they exist in. If under-16s aren’t spending time on social media, they need somewhere else to go and something else to do.

The collapse of youth services has left a gap that platforms have been quick to fill. Reinvesting in youth clubs, sports and arts programmes, after-school provision and safe community spaces is essential.

Children need spaces where they experience belonging, positive role models and healthy relationships, rather than turning to online influencers to meet these needs.

Burnham’s commitment presents an opportunity to get this policy right.

To do so, the government must listen to teachers, resource schools properly and ensure Ofcom is equipped to enforce new rules from day one.

Schools are already picking up the pieces of a crisis they did not create. The challenge now is to turn political consensus into practical action that protects children online while reducing, not adding to, the pressure on teachers.

Daniel Kebede is general secretary of the NEU teaching union

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