MPs have urged the next government to consider a complete ban on smartphones for under-16s and a legal ban on mobile phone use in schools as part of a crackdown on children’s screen time.
Members of the House of Commons education committee made the recommendations in a report into the impact of screen time on education and wellbeing, which also called on ministers to raise the threshold for opening an account in the social networks at 16 years old.
Robin Walker MP, Conservative chair of the committee, said the excessive use of screens and smartphones had a “clear negative impact” on the wellbeing of children and young people.
Walker said: “From exposure to pornography to criminal gangs using online platforms to recruit children, the online world poses serious dangers. Parents and schools face an uphill struggle and the government must do more to help them meet this challenge. “This could require radical measures, such as a possible ban on smartphones for those under 16.”
Rishi Sunak has been considering banning the sale of smartphones to under-16s, as well as raising the minimum age for social media accounts, but a planned consultation on the proposals has not been published.
The education committee report said the next government should work with Ofcom, the communications regulator, to launch a consultation on new measures for the use of smartphones (devices that allow people to easily download apps and view websites). These would include: a “total” ban on smartphones for children under 16; parental controls installed on phones by default; and controls in app stores to prevent children from accessing inappropriate content.
The report also says the government should consider enshrining in law a ban on mobile phone use in schools in England. In February, ministers issued guidance to headteachers “prohibiting the use of mobile phones”. throughout the school day.
The report called for a formal monitoring regime to assess the impact of the ban and keep reserved the option of making it mandatory. “If the results show that a non-legal ban has been ineffective over 12 months, the government should act quickly to introduce a legal ban,” the report says.
The report adds that the next government should launch a consultation before the end of 2024 on whether 13 is an appropriate age for children to allow social media platforms to access their personal data online and open a social media account. . The minimum age to open an account on most major UK platforms is 13 years old.
Noting that the age of consent in the UK is 16, that a child cannot drive until the age of 17 and that the voting threshold in England is 18, the report adds: “The next government should recommend 16 as the a more appropriate age (for the era of digital consent).”
The report cited research showing a 52% increase in children’s screen time between 2020 and 2022 and a study showing that almost 25% of children and young people use their smartphones. in an addictive way. He also marked inquiry by children’s commissioner for england showing that 79% of children had encountered violent pornography online before the age of 18.
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Ofcom recently reported that a quarter of three and four-year-old children in the UK now own a smartphone, and that almost all children own a mobile phone by the age of 12. The communications regulator also found that half of children under 13 are on social media. media.
The MPs said: “The overwhelming weight of evidence presented to us suggests that the harms of screen time and social media use significantly outweigh the benefits for young children.”
Smartphone Free Childhood, a campaign group calling for restrictions on phones, welcomed the report. “It is enormously encouraging to see this influential committee, which has heard a wide range of evidence from education and child development experts, reach the same conclusion as our grassroots community of 100,000 parents,” said Daisy Greenwell, the group’s co-founder.
Ian Russell, president of the Molly Rose Foundation and whose 14-year-old daughter Molly took her own life after seeing harmful material on social media, said the next government should focus on regulation and not bans that could lead to “ worse results.”
He said: “Banning smartphones and social media would cause more harm than good and punish children for the failure of technology companies to protect them. “The next government must follow the evidence and apply stricter regulation.”