Top safeguarding training experts give advice on doomscrolling 

The word ‘doomscrolling’ is thrown around a lot in our modern world, referencing the habit of repeatedly scrolling through online content, often without a clear purpose.

Here, the safeguarding training experts at High Speed Training offer insights to help educators and parents navigate their children’s time online.

What is doomscrolling?

Dr Richard Anderson, Learning Experience Director at High Speed Training said: “Doomscrolling is not automatically harmful for children and young people, but it is important to note both the amount of prolonged time they are spending on screens and what kind of content is being consumed.

“Doomscrolling refers to repeatedly scrolling through social media, news feeds or other online content for long periods, particularly when the content is negative, distressing or worrying. A child might intend to watch a few videos before bed, but then continue scrolling for another hour, moving from one piece of content to the next without really choosing what they are watching.”

Doomscrolling and time online can be hard for parents and teachers to control. It’s important to consider what a child is doing online and whether their screen use, including doomscrolling, is replacing sleep, physical activity, social interaction or other activities and therefore affecting their relationships, schoolwork and wellbeing.

What are the dangers of doomscrolling?

Spending long periods consuming online content can increase their exposure to harmful material and make it harder for them to switch off. Potential dangers of doomscrolling include:

• Poor sleep
• Impact on mental wellbeing 
• Exposure to cyberbullying
• Harmful body image messages
• Self-harm and suicide content 
• Violent or abusive content 
• Radicalisation and extremism 
• Misogynistic and racist content 
• AI-generated abuse 
• Reduced time for non-screen activities 

Dr Anderson continues: “Doomscrolling can be particularly concerning because children and young people do not necessarily have to seek out or search for harmful material themselves, recommendation algorithms use information about the user and suggest content for them.”

Recent research supports this:

• University College London found that, in an experimental study using simulated teenage boys’ TikTok accounts, the proportion of recommended videos containing misogynistic content increased fourfold over five days, from 13% to 56%. The researchers also found that harmful ideas could be presented in humorous or entertaining formats.
• A study by 5Rights Foundation reported that simulated child accounts on platforms including TikTok, Instagram and Facebook were exposed to content relating to eating disorders, self-harm, suicide, sexualised imagery and extreme dieting within hours.
• More recent 2026 research also found that simulated child accounts on TikTok, Instagram and X were directed towards violent, sexualised and emotionally harmful material within a short period of use.

What can parents and teachers do?

1. Regular conversations about online activity can make it easier for children to tell an adult when something has upset or worried them. 
2. Setting clear boundaries that are appropriate for the child’s age and circumstances can help manage doomscrolling. 
3. Explaining how algorithms work can be useful as children may not realise that their feed is personalised. Explain that watching, liking, sharing or searching for certain content can influence what an app recommends next.
4. Internet safety should be an ongoing conversation rather than a one-off lesson. Children should know that they can come across harmful or misleading content online and understand what to do when this happens.
5. Teachers may notice changes in a child’s behaviour, relationships, attendance or engagement that could indicate they are struggling with something online. In England, Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) states that staff should understand different types of abuse, neglect and exploitation, including online harms, and act on safeguarding concerns without delay.

Dr Anderson concludes: “There’s no single solution to doomscrolling. Instead, children need support to understand how online platforms work, recognise when scrolling is becoming unhelpful and know how to develop healthier habits around technology.

“Regular conversations, sensible boundaries and a strong safeguarding approach can all help children stay safer online and prevent doomscrolling from causing damage.”

For more tips and in-depth guidance, visit highspeedtraining.co.uk