Parents Petition Parliament to Curb Social Media Access Among School-Going Children
A 2024 WHO study involving almost 280,000 young people aged 11, 13 and 15 across 44 countries and regions found that the proportion reporting problematic social media use had risen from 7 per cent in 2018 to 11 per cent in 2022.
Petitioners Mugo Wa Kanyiri (Jimmy Mugo) and John Wainaina Macharia address the media after petitioning Parliament to introduce stronger safeguards on social media access among school-going children. The two parents are urging Members of Parliament to support and push for the passage of legislation aimed at protecting minors from harmful online content, cyberbullying, social media addiction and other emerging digital risks. Photo: James Gitaka
By James Gitaka
Two parents have petitioned Parliament to introduce tighter safeguards on social media use among school-going children, warning that unrestricted access to digital platforms could undermine learners’ education, discipline, safety and mental wellbeing.
The petitioners, Mugo Wa Kanyiri (Jimmy Mugo) and John Wainaina Macharia, who identify themselves as parents of teenagers and representatives of Koelel Forces Academy and Garrison Senior School, want Parliament to consider legislation aimed at protecting minors from harmful online content and excessive social media use.
The petition was received by the Clerk of the National Assembly on August 10, 2026.
The parents say their concerns are informed by their observations of the changing digital environment and the impact of social media and artificial intelligence on young people.
“We are parents who have deeply researched from our smartphones and laptops and have clearly seen the effect of social media and Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the boys,” the petitioners stated.
They argue that growing access to smartphones and online platforms has created new challenges for schools, including distraction from learning, cyberbullying, social media addiction, exposure to inappropriate content and declining discipline.
Kenya’s adolescent population
The petition comes against the backdrop of a rapidly growing adolescent population in Kenya.
According to the Situation of Adolescents in Kenya 2024, there were an estimated 11.62 million adolescents aged 10–19, representing 22.2 per cent of the country’s population, based on 2024 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics projections. Of these, about 5.95 million were aged 10–14, while 5.67 million were aged 15–19.
The report, published by UNICEF Kenya in collaboration with Kenyan government institutions, specifically identifies information, communication and technology use among the areas requiring attention in understanding the lives of adolescents.
The scale of Kenya’s adolescent population makes the debate over children’s digital safety an increasingly important education and public-policy issue.
Smartphone access and internet use
The same report shows that digital connectivity is already part of the lives of a significant proportion of Kenyan adolescents.
Data cited in the report from the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census and the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey shows differences in mobile-phone and smartphone ownership among adolescents, as well as internet use among young people.
This means that efforts to protect children online cannot be separated from the broader expansion of digital access, particularly as smartphones increasingly become tools for communication, entertainment and learning.
The petitioners are therefore calling for a stronger regulatory framework that balances the educational benefits of technology with the need to protect minors from online risks.
Mental health concerns
The petition also raises concerns about the effect of digital pressures on children’s mental health.
The concern comes amid worrying evidence on adolescent mental health in Kenya. The Situation of Adolescents in Kenya 2024 reports that the 2022 National Mental Health Survey found that 44.3 per cent of adolescents aged 10–17 had a mental health problem, while 12.2 per cent met the criteria for a mental disorder.
The figures do not establish that social media caused these mental health problems. However, they underline the importance of ensuring that interventions aimed at protecting adolescents consider their wider mental health and wellbeing.
Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that one in seven adolescents aged 10–19 experiences a mental health condition, with anxiety, depression and behavioural disorders among the leading causes of illness and disability in this age group.
Growing concern over problematic social media use
International evidence is also pointing to increasing concerns about how some adolescents use social media.
A 2024 WHO study involving almost 280,000 young people aged 11, 13 and 15 across 44 countries and regions found that the proportion reporting problematic social media use had risen from 7 per cent in 2018 to 11 per cent in 2022.
The study defined problematic use as difficulty controlling social media use and experiencing negative consequences in daily life. Girls reported higher rates than boys, at 13 per cent compared with 9 per cent.
WHO has cautioned that problematic social media use can be associated with reduced wellbeing, sleep problems and other challenges affecting adolescents.
These international findings do not represent Kenyan children specifically, but they provide context for the concerns raised by the two petitioners.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is another issue highlighted in the petition.
WHO’s Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study found that approximately one in six school-aged children experienced cyberbullying, while about 12 per cent of adolescents reported cyberbullying others across the countries and regions covered by the study.
More recent Kenyan evidence is also emerging. A 2025 Mombasa Youth Study reported that 22 per cent of adolescents and young people surveyed had experienced online abuse, although the figure covered a specific study population in Mombasa and should not be treated as a national estimate.
The petitioners say stronger safeguards are therefore needed to protect school-going children from online harassment and other forms of digital abuse.
Proposed measures
Among the measures proposed by Mugo and Macharia is stronger age verification for social media accounts.
They want social media platforms to establish mechanisms for determining whether users are minors, including the use of regulated identification systems, and to deactivate accounts operated by underage users where required by law.
They have also proposed regular audits of social media activity, stronger monitoring of online groups involving school-going children and greater accountability for platforms that fail to protect minors.
On artificial intelligence, the petitioners want AI tools in schools to be treated primarily as educational aids, with safeguards against misuse by children.
The parents also want the Ministry of ICT and other relevant agencies to strengthen oversight of technology companies and service providers in protecting children online.
MPs urged to push for legislation
The two petitioners have urged Members of Parliament to take up the matter and push for the passing of the proposed Bill, arguing that lawmakers have a responsibility to strengthen the legal framework governing children’s safety in the digital environment.
“We are deeply concerned that if action is not taken on the use of social media by school-going children and students in secondary school, there shall be complete moral decay, exposing children to illegal sites and unethical scenes,” they stated.
Their appeal places the issue squarely within the wider debate over how schools, parents, technology companies and government can protect children while still allowing them to benefit from digital learning and communication.
UNICEF has similarly noted that digital technology can create opportunities for children to learn, communicate and develop skills, but can also expose them to harmful content, bullying and harassment. The organisation argues for a balance between enabling children to benefit from technology and ensuring that they are safe online.
For the petitioners, the question before Parliament is therefore not whether children should have access to technology, but how that access can be regulated in a way that protects their education, safety and wellbeing.
The petition now puts the issue before Parliament, with the petitioners hoping lawmakers will consider their proposals and advance legislation aimed at strengthening protections for minors in Kenya’s increasingly digital education environment.
About Author
