Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to support a new law to ban smartphones in schools to stop children “doom-scrolling” – after Number 10 refused to back the plan.
New Labour MP Josh MacAlister is calling for the government to make legal changes to make social media and smartphones less addictive for children and to “empower” parents and teachers to curb screen-time.
The former teacher introduced his Safer Phones Bill on Tuesday which has received backing from cross-party MPs as well as education unions, charities and current and former children’s commissioners.
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One of the key tenets is legally banning smartphones from schools but Sir Keir’s spokesman said the government has “no plans to legislate” that as headteachers can already ban phones from classrooms, although they have no legal backing.
Sir Keir’s spokesman said the bill “won’t go ahead”, but Health Secretary Wes Streeting separately indicated some support for the bill as he said “this is a really timely debate”.
Mr MacAlister said he is not perturbed and told Sky News: “This is a campaign of persuasion.”
As part of the bill, he is calling for:
• Raising the age of “internet adulthood” (the minimum age to create social media profiles, email accounts, etc) from 13 to 16
• Legally banning smartphones from classrooms
• Strengthening Ofcom’s powers to protect children from apps designed to be addictive
• Committing government to review further regulation if needed of the design, supply, marketing and use of mobile phones by children under 16
Current guidance to schools in England intended to stop the use of mobile phones during the school day is non-statutory, and was introduced earlier this year by the previous Tory government. The bill would make it a legal requirement.
Mr…
