Children ‘doom scrolling’ on phones for hours a day causing widespread harm – MP
Children who are “doom scrolling” for hours a day on smartphones are at risk of widespread harm, an MP has warned.
The equivalent of “seatbelt” legislation is needed for children and their social media use to help them manage addictive content, according to former teacher Josh MacAlister.
On Wednesday, the Labour MP for Whitehaven and Workington will introduce a Private Member’s Bill (PMB) in Parliament on protecting children from harms caused by excessive screen time
Bill
Other proposals include strengthening watchdog Ofcom’s powers to protect children from apps that are designed to be addictive, and committing the Government to review further regulation if needed of the design, supply, marketing and use of mobile phones by children under the age of 16.
Mr MacAlister, who led an independent review into children’s social care for the former government, said: “The evidence is mounting that children doom scrolling for hours a day is causing widespread harm. We need the equivalent of the ‘seatbelt’ legislation for social media use for children.
“Adults find it hard enough to manage screen time, so why are we expecting children to manage this addictive content without some shared rules? Parents are in an impossible bind over whether to ostracise their child from social media or expose them to the harms and addiction of content.
“Countries around the world are now taking bold action and our children risk being left behind. It’s time to have the national debate here in the UK.”
MPs are expected to debate the issue in the new year, Mr MacAlister’s office said.
Evidence
He added: “It is not enough to rely solely on parents and schools teaching children about the dangers of smartphones. We have reached a point where regulation is required over their sale and the conduct of online platforms.”
Joe Ryrie, co-founder of the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign group, said: “Parents everywhere are crying out for Government to go further and faster in regulating big tech so that they alone are not responsible for guarding childhood from the addictive and predatory algorithms for which they are no match.
“We need to start thinking about children’s digital safety in a more imaginative way, going beyond just the harms, so that we can build upon the Online Safety Act and start developing a new regulatory approach that has young people’s wellbeing and healthy development at its heart.”
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
No thanks, get out of a parents responsibility. I have dwindling respect for teachers ironically. As they called for US style drills for incidents we do not suffer. That’s fear building in itself.
All very well, but I see no evidence that supposedly mature adults can handle social media any better than children can. You could make just as good a case that all politicians and journalists should have their phones taken off them before their brains turn completely to mush.
phones use out of control in most schools now. Kids have them out in class, under the table, in pockets. A teacher with more than 30 kids in a class can’t spend the whole time telling them over and again to put them away. Schools should have banned them before – only now when pupils are using AI to give them answers or write essays will they act.