Commonwealth judo star Sarah Adlington backs under-16 social media ban to keep girls in sport
Commonwealth Games star believes significant changes are needed to encourage girls into sport - and keep them active
One of Scotland’s most successful sports stars has backed a social media ban for under-16s as a measure to help girls’ success.
Sarah Adlington said social media creates “outside noise” that makes “life much more complicated and much more difficult” for young women.
Adlington was at Edinburgh’s all-girls St George’s School to speak to pupils about resilience in sport.
Resilience, she said, is a “massive” part of success, as is surrounding yourself with good people.
“People who can push you when you need pushed and help you through the good times and the bad times,” she said.
“Because everybody wants to be there on the good times, but you need people more when it's not gone right.”
But Adlington, who leads the judoka squad of 13 men and women selected for Team Scotland Commonwealth Games, said social media makes that so much harder.
“Phones and social media, and the pressures of that, knock confidence,” she said.
“It's not glamorous to be sweaty or red-faced. But instead of comparing yourself to the 30 other people around you in class, you’re comparing yourself to the whole world.
“There’s a fear that you make one mistake and people film it and put it online.
“You need safe spaces to make blunders.
“It’s a huge positive that young people will not have to deal with social media until they are older.”
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St George’s has had judo classes for around 30 years and Adlington, the first athlete to win two Commonwealth Games gold medals in judo, once coached in the school.
To her delight, some pupils recognised her from when they were younger.
“That's why the Commonwealth Games is so important for Scottish sports, so that there are role models,” she said.
“The amount of Scottish athletes who then go on to Team GB is small, whereas the Commonwealth gives a real opportunity for Scottish athletes to be the role models that we're talking about.”
Figures from Women in Sport's say only 23 per cent of girls now dream of reaching the top in sport, down from 38 per cent a year earlier, against 53 per cent for boys, with 45 per cent of girls saying sport is seen as something for boys.
Adlington said being in an all-girls environment helps give girls the confidence to be involved in sport, whether at an elite level or physical and mental health.
“If it can hold women and girls in sport, or give them the confidence to go and try something new then it can only be a positive thing,” she said.
This year Glasgow will host a slimmed down Commonwealth Games after Victoria, Australia, pulled out at the last minute.
Adlington said it was unfair to compare 2026’s Games with the showstopper event in 2014.
She said: “It can't be the same. The budget's not the same. There's no village.
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“But I think it could still do a good and that people are going to get excited about it and are making it becoming more visible.”
Christine Fourie, Director of Sport at St George’s School, said every pupil from P1 to S6 participates in sport.
She said: “The barriers that hold girls back in sport are not always obvious.
“They start early, with implicit messaging about who different sports are really for, boys dominating playground spaces, girl’s teams receiving less platform time, and girls’ confidence can quietly erode long before anyone notices.
“We remove those barriers at every level, from the kit girls wear to the language we use to the role models they see in front of them every day.”
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