The UK is planning a new study. In this, thousands of students will take part to see if spending less time on social media can improve their mental health.

The study, called the IRL (In Real Life) trial, will involve about 4,000 students aged 12 to 15 in Bradford. Each child will get a daily time limit for certain social media apps. They will also not be allowed to use social media between 9 pm and 7 am.

Their mental health will be compared with that of other children who continue using social media as usual.

Researchers will study changes in anxiety, depression, sleep, bullying, and how much time students spend with friends and family.

Dr Dan Lewer from the Bradford Centre for Health Data Science said teenagers already know social media can be harmful. Many talk about problems like late-night scrolling, poor sleep, online bullying, and less time with real-life relationships.

He also shared that teenagers did not want a complete ban. On average, children aged 12 to 15 spend about three hours a day on screens. Students in the trial will install an app that controls platforms like TikTok and Snapchat, but it will not limit messaging apps such as WhatsApp.

The study will run for six weeks, and results are expected in summer. Researchers said the findings will be shared independently, even as the UK government considers possible rules on social media use for children under 16.

Professor Amy Orben from the University of Cambridge said this study is important not just for the UK, but for other countries too. She explained that while some harms of social media, like bullying, abuse, and illegal content, are clear, less is known about how time spent on social media affects most young people.

She added that this is the first large study in the world to test whether reducing social media time can improve the mental health of healthy children under 18.