UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel urges parents to stop being lenient on phone use and set boundaries as kids’ screen time reaches alarming levels.
As reported by The Standard, the Children’s Commissioner has urged parents to avoid playing the role of a “buddy” over mobile phones.
What did Dame Rachel say about parents and phone rules?
Dame Rachel de Souza warns parents against outsourcing their role to professionals, stating,
“If we are serious about protecting our children, we have to look at our behaviour.”
She said,
“The temptation as a parent to give in to a child’s pleas is a real one. Every parent has been in that position.”
Ms Rachel stated,
“A new smartphone, ignoring the nagging voice in your head that questions it, because ‘all my friends have one’, despite knowing how much time you spend on your own smartphone.”
She said,
“You are not supposed to be your child’s friend. Sometimes being the parent means making difficult decisions in your child’s long-term interests, no matter how loudly they disagree. They need you to give them love, understanding, support and boundaries,”
adding,
“It means listening to your child, always encouraging the height of their aspirations, but not just doing exactly what they want.”
The children’s commissioner urged parents to feel assured in addressing tough topics with their children about the online content they consume.
She said,
“We need parents to give their children the opportunities to talk about violent or sexual content they see online without simply having their device confiscated, because it will find them elsewhere.”
Her remarks come amid calls from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and the National Education Union for the government to introduce a statutory mobile phone ban in schools.
Previously, Ms Rachel has argued that the decision to ban mobile phones should be up to headteachers to decide, rather than a nationwide policy enforced by the government.
She said, “schools are only part of the solution,” adding, “Head teachers have told me that despite their own policies they remain deeply concerned about children’s safety online, because most of the time children spend on their phones is outside school hours when they are in their parents’ care.”
YouGov poll about children’s screen time
A YouGov survey of 502 children in England, aged 8 to 15, found that 23% of them spend over four hours a day on devices such as phones, tablets, and computers.
The poll was conducted in March and April. It shows that 25% of children use these devices for two to three hours daily. Additionally, 20% spend three to four hours each day.
What did the children’s commissioner survey reveal about phone use?
A separate poll by the commissioner of over 15,000 state schools in England shows that most schools are adopting phone policies recommended by the Department for Education.
A recent study revealed that 90% of secondary schools and 99.8% of primary schools have policies in place to limit mobile phone use during school hours.
Schools have introduced rules such as:
- Banning phones entirely on school grounds.
- Collecting phones at the start of the school day.
- Requiring students to keep phones out of sight.
What did Daniel Kebede say about phone use in schools?
Daniel Kebede, the NEU’s general secretary, expressed his personal opinion that the Labour Party should implement stricter guidelines on mobile phone use in educational institutions.
What did Keir Starmer say about banning phones in schools?
Last month, Kemi Badenoch raised concerns over the Government’s decision to reject a Tory-backed amendment within the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that aimed to enforce phone bans in schools.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the amendment was “completely unnecessary,” arguing that most schools already enforce phone bans.
Key points in Children’s Wellbieng and Schools Bill
- Defines kinship carers in law.
- Requires decision-making meetings before removing children into care.
- Introduces unique identifier for children.
- Increases oversight of children’s homes.
- Caps profits for children’s homes providers.
- Mandates breakfast clubs in state-funded primary schools.
- Limits branded items required for school uniforms.
- Requires registration of children educated outside school.
- Expands regulation of independent educational institutions.
- Strengthens Ofsted’s powers over illegal schools.
- Extends teacher regulation to more settings.
- Rolls back freedoms of academies.
- Restores local authorities’ power to propose new schools.