Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 2
2
Accepted
Paragraph: 26
Screen time harms significantly outweigh benefits for young children, requiring minimal use.
Conclusion
The overwhelming weight of evidence submitted to us suggests that the harms of screen time and social media use significantly outweigh the benefits for young children, whereas limited use of screens and genuinely educational uses of digital technology can have benefits for older children. For this reason, screen time should be minimal for younger children and better balanced with face-to-face socialisation and physical activity for older ones.
Government Response Summary
The government states that schools already have powers and non-statutory guidance (published February 2024) to ban mobile phones, and surveys show compliance, making a statutory ban unnecessary. They will continue to build an evidence base through a call for evidence and ongoing surveys, and NIHR is funding related research.
Paragraph Reference:
26
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
We will continue to build a robust evidence base on the effectiveness on school mobile phone policies. This will include a call for evidence which will ask questions about schools policies’ on mobile phones. Schools already have the power to ban mobile phones from their site. Many did this prior to the publication of the DfE guidance, and since its publication our surveys have found that there were no leaders who said that pupils could use their mobile phone any time in school. The current school-led approach allows schools to ensure their policies reflect school circumstances (including the best means for the school’s context of ensuring that, as the committee recommends, it is still possible for mobile phones to be used for emergency contact or when travelling). A statutory ban to give more force to the existing guidance is not necessary when survey evidence suggests schools are following the guidance already. In February 2024, the department published non-statutory guidance prohibiting the use of mobile phones in schools throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime. We expect all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning. We know there are a range of complexities and challenges associated with allowing mobile phone use in schools, including related to bullying, distraction and classroom disruption which, in turn can lead to lost learning time. We know that at least 97% of secondary schools had at least some restriction on mobile phones in place, prior to the ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance being published in February 2024. We have published survey data tracking mobile phone policies in schools, for example our December 2023 omnibus survey found that, across all school phases, “there were no leaders that said pupils can use their phone anytime at school”. Our guidance was introduced in February 2024 and it will take time for evidence of impacts to become clear. We will continue to survey schools about their mobile phone policies via the DfE omnibus survey, which will help to inform the department on whether further action is needed. The NIHR is currently funding research to evaluate the effect of school policies that restrict school-time smartphone use on mental wellbeing.