Education producer
The MP behind a bill campaigners hoped would ban smart phones in schools has admitted to watering down his proposals to gain government support.
Josh MacAlister told BBC News he was now “focused on the areas where we can get government support so that we actually get some action in this area”.
MacAlister, the Labour MP for Whitehaven and Workington, had earlier said the legislation would give headteachers legal backing to make schools mobile free.
The new version of the so-called safer phones bill instead calls for further research, as well as advice for parents on smart phone and social media use by children.
The private member’s bill will be debated by MPs on Friday when it has its second reading in the House of Commons.
It has been watered down since it was first proposed in October last year. It originally looked to ban smartphones in schools and ban addictive social media algorithms, but will now commit the government to researching the issue further rather than immediate change.
When asked about changes made to his planned legislation, MacAlister, a former teacher, said he had “been working really closely with the government” to put forward “practical measures”, and was “optimistic” ministers would support it.
Private members’ bills rarely make it into law without government backing but they are an opportunity for backbenchers to raise an issue’s profile.
There have been growing calls to restrict children’s smartphone use, including local schools combining to revise their phone policies and parent groups joining forces to delay giving their child a smartphone.
However, some of those in favour of smartphones say they provide opportunities for child development, including socialising, and there is little evidence supporting restrictions of devices in schools.
MacAlister said the proposal to ban smart phones in schools was dropped from the bill after the government signalled it “was not something they were going to consider”.
The bill in October 2024 originally included proposals for:
- a legal requirement for all schools to be mobile-free zones
- the age online companies can receive data consent from children without permission from parents to be raised from 13 to 16
- Ofcom’s powers to be strengthened so it can enforce a code of conduct to prevent children being exposed to apps and services “addictive by design”
- further regulation of the design, supply, marketing and use of mobile phones by under-16s, if needed
Those proposals have been dropped, and the bill is now calling for:
- chief medical officers to put out guidance on the use of smartphones and social media use by children within 12 months
- the education secretary to come up with a plan for research into the impact of use of social media on children within 12 months
- the government to come back within a year to say whether it will raise the digital age of consent from 13 to 16 – meaning online companies could not receive children’s data without parental permission until that age
Joe Ryrie, leader of the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign, said the final provisions in the bill were “nowhere near enough”.
The Liberal Democrats accused the government of making “ponderous progress” on the issue, and suggested ministers had succeed in pushing for the bill to be “watered down”.
MacAlister said he “wanted this campaign to be a campaign of persuasion to put this issue right at the centre of the national debate and bring that debate into Parliament”.
He added: “I think what we’ll see in the government’s response to the bill is that they’re prepared to take some positive steps forward on this issue and that they’re committed to further action and I think that’s really positive.”
Friday’s debate in the Commons comes as a report suggested the majority of young people support the idea of placing stricter rules on social media, with more than 60% saying they believe it does more harm than good.
The study, from think tank The New Britain Project and polling firm More in Common surveyed more than 1,600 people aged 16 to 24.
It found that three-quarters said stronger rules were needed to protect young people from social media harms, and social media was named as the most negative influence on teens’ mental health.
