Smartphone ban for under-16s needs to be thought-about, group of MPs suggests

A complete ban on under-16s proudly owning smartphones needs to be thought-about by the subsequent authorities, in keeping with a report from MPs.

The House of Commons Education Committee additionally known as for a statutory ban on cell phones in colleges.

It argued that display time was dangerous to kids’s psychological and bodily well being, and each colleges and fogeys wanted clear steering from the federal government on the difficulty.

Earlier this 12 months, the Department for Education issued steering, which is non-statutory, instructing headteachers on how one can ban the usage of telephones throughout classes and break and lunch durations.

However, the committee has stated this doesn’t go far sufficient.

Its report stated there had been a 52% enhance in kids’s display time between 2020 and 2022, with 1 / 4 stated to be utilizing their units in an addictive method.

MPs on the committee stated that whereas the Online Safety Act will play a task in preserving kids protected from on-line harms, full safety won’t come till the Act is totally carried out in 2026.

Read extra:
Schools which ban cell phones get higher GCSE grades, research finds

Committee chairman Robin Walker stated: “Without pressing motion, extra kids might be put in hurt’s manner. From publicity to pornography, to legal gangs utilizing on-line platforms to recruit kids, the net world poses severe risks.

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“Parents and schools face an uphill struggle and Government must do more to help them meet this challenge.

“This would possibly require radical steps, corresponding to probably a ban on smartphones for under-16s.”

However, online safety campaigner Ian Russell, whose 14-year-old daughter Molly took her own life after viewing harmful material on social media, said a ban on phones or social media access would “trigger extra hurt than good” and would “punish kids for the failures of tech corporations to guard them”.

“The quickest and most effective route to protect children’s online safety and wellbeing is to strengthen the Online Safety Act in the next parliament and we call on all parties to commit to this in their manifestos.”