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Select Committee · Education Committee

Screen Time: Impacts on education and wellbeing

Status: Closed Opened: 8 Sep 2023 Closed: 27 May 2024 17 recommendations 15 conclusions 1 report

The Education Committee will assess how screentime can support and impact children’s development, wellbeing and educational outcomes. The Committee will also examine the effectiveness of digital safety education in schools and the ways in which schools and parents can be better supported to manage children’s screen usage. The inquiry will also focus on how screen …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fourth Report - Screen time: impacts on education and wellb… HC 118 25 May 2024 32 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

1 item
24 Recommendation Fourth Report - Screen time: impacts on… Rejected

Children are exposed to online harms through smartphone and social media use

It is clear that children are exposed to online harms when using smart phones to access the internet and, in particular, social media platforms. We support calls for tighter controls on the sale of smart phones to children under 16 years old in order to protect them from harm.

Government response. The government rejects the call for tighter controls on smartphone sales to under-16s, citing a lack of robust causal evidence to support such measures and stating its focus remains on the Online Safety Act, while also commissioning further evidence-building and …
Department for Education

Oral evidence sessions

4 sessions
Date Witnesses
12 Mar 2024 Charlotte Briscall · Department for Education, Kate Dixon · Department for Education, Mark Bunting · Ofcom, Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP · Department for Education, Yih-Choung Teh · Ofcom View ↗
20 Feb 2024 Dame Rachel de Souza · Office of the Children's Commissioner for England, David Wright · The UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC), Ian Critchley · National Police Chiefs’ Council, Jessica Edwards · Barnardo’s View ↗
9 Jan 2024 Darren Northcott · NASUWT The Teachers' Union, Elizabeth Anderson · Learning Foundation and the Digital Poverty Alliance, John McGee · BBC Education, Jonathan Baggaley · PSHE Association, The Baroness Kidron OBE · 5Rights Foundation View ↗
21 Nov 2023 Carolyn Bunting MBE · Internet Matters, Dr Amy Orben · University of Cambridge, Dr Bernadka Dubicka · Hull and York Medical School, University of York, Rafe Clayton · University of Leeds, Vicki Shotbolt · Parent Zone View ↗