Why Social Media Makes Children’s Behaviour Worse (And How To Help)

Why do children sometimes say things online they would never say face to face? In this episode of School Behaviour Secrets , you’ll learn why social media can make behaviour escalate so quickly - and why it’s not simply about children being unkind. Drawing on psychology and real-world school experience, we explain how social media and messaging apps remove the natural feedback that helps children regulate their behaviour - and why that’s important. You’ll come away with a brain-based framework to understand online cruelty in children that you can share with staff and parents - and ideas for supporting children to slow down and make better choices on social media. Important links: Get our FREE SEND Behaviour Handbook: Download other FREE behaviour resources for use in school: School leaders: Join us at the National SEMH Conference (October 2026) It's a whole day focused on the real SEMH, behaviour and inclusion pressures facing schools - and what leaders can do next. Plus, right now you can get Super Early Bird tickets at £250 - find out more and book your place here.

You can listen to Why Social Media Makes Children’s Behaviour Worse (And How To Help) online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Why Social Media Makes Children’s Behaviour Worse (And How To Help) is an episode from School Behaviour Secrets with Simon Currigan and Emma Shackleton by Beacon School Support.

This episode is 20:02 long.

This episode was published on Mar 9, 2026.

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