Thank you to the number of constituents who have contacted me regarding the impact smartphones and social media are having on our children, and I understand the concerns expressed. I recognise it is important we do what we can to protect children from the harms of smartphones and social media.  

A large body of research has linked the amount of ‘screen time’ such as watching television, playing computer games, and using smartphone apps with negative outcomes for children of all ages. In a school context, using smartphones can be extremely distracting for both pupils and their teachers.

The Department for Education has published new guidance which backs head teachers in banning mobile phone use throughout the school day, including at break times, to tackle disruptive behaviour and online bullying while boosting attention during lessons. This is supporting the wider work the Government is doing to raise standards in schools by increasing students’ focus and reducing distractions.

The new guidance says that schools should prohibit the use of mobile phones, but they will have autonomy on how to do this. Schools will be supported to prohibit mobile phone use with examples of different approaches including banning phones from the school premises, handing in phones on arrival at school, and keeping phones securely locked away at school. 

Additionally, the Government is committed to ensuring that there are sufficient protections for children of all ages online. The Online Safety Act 2023 contains strong protections for children and will make the UK the safest place to be a child online. As well as protecting children from illegal material, all services likely to be accessed by children will need to provide additional protection for those children. 

The media regulator, Ofcom, has published draft codes of practice for tech firms, which will further support the above measures. Tech firms will now need to configure their algorithms to filter out the most harmful content from children's feeds, and reduce the visibility and prominence of other harmful content. Other measures have been proposed and are being reviewed.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.