The head of Brynteg School in Bridgend was one of the few to argue against a ban, even though his school had recently experienced a “really tough time” as a result of “damaging” TikTok posts.
“My view is quite simply that would be a mistake,” Ryan Davies said.
“I think if you ban social media for under-16s, you’re going to push [it] underground.”
He said recent “upsetting, quite untrue, quite damaging” online posts had “hurt the whole of the school community” but he believed social media also had “many advantages” for young people.
Examples included using TikTok clips to revise for a recent GCSE English literature exam, while some pupils with poor attendance used social media as “the link with the school”.
Brynteg pupil Iris, 14, said she and her friends had used social media to follow the recent Senedd election campaign.
It gave young people a platform to “really use their voice and speak up about issues”, she said, while her classmate Ammu said it made it easier for some people “to find people who shares similar interests”.
Carter,14, said young people should not miss out because of the failings of big technology companies.
“The government needs to look more at the companies themselves and hold them accountable for the content they are allowing on there.”
And Ivor, 14, questioned whether a ban could be enforced.
“I feel like even now children lie about their ages on social media.
“If they were to ban it they would keep on doing this, they would find ways to get around it as children do all the time.”