Plan to ban smart phones in schools watered down by MP

The deputy, who is behind one of the participants who hope to ban smartphones in schools, admitted to alleviate his proposals for government support.

Josh McCallester BBC News told that “he is now focusing on the areas where we can obtain government support so that we can get some procedures in this field.”

Macalister, the workers’ representative of Whitehaven and Workington, said earlier that the legislation would give teachers Legal support to make schools free.

The new version of the so -called Bell calls on safer phones to make more research, in addition to advice for parents on the smartphone and the social media that children use.

The private member bill will be discussed by MPS on Friday when it had its second reading in the House of Commons.

It has been diluted since his proposal for the first time in October last year. He originally looks to banning smartphones in schools and prohibiting social media algorithms, but it will now adhere to the government to discuss the case instead of immediate change.

When asked about the changes made to his planned legislation, McCalastter, a former teacher, said he was working closely with the government to “provide” practical measures “, and the” optimists “of his support were.

Member draft laws in the law rarely enter without government support, but it is an opportunity for participants to raise the level of the case.

There were increasing calls to restrict smartphones for children, including local schools that combine their phone’s policies and parental groups that join the delay of giving her child a smartphone.

However, some of those who support smartphones say they provide opportunities for the development of the child, including social media, and there is little evidence that supports the restrictions of devices in schools.

Mcalaster said that the proposal to ban smart phones in schools had been dropped from the draft law after the government indicated that it was “nothing they were thinking about.”

In October 2024, the draft law included proposals for:

• A legal condition for all schools to be areas free of mobile devices
• Online age companies can obtain data approval from children without permission from parents who will be raised from 13 to 16
• Offcom’s powers are enhanced so that you can impose a code of behavior to prevent children from exposure to applications and services “addiction by design”
• More organization to design, market and use mobile phones under 16 years, if necessary

These proposals have been dropped, and the bill now calls for:

• Senior medical officials to provide guidelines about the use of smartphones and the use of social media by children within 12 months
• The Minister of Education to find a plan to discuss the impact of social media use on children within 12 months
• The government returns within a year to clarify whether it will raise the age of digital approval from 13 to 16 – which means that companies via the Internet cannot receive children’s data without permission from parents until this age

Joe Riri, the leader of the childhood -free childhood campaign, said that the final rulings on the draft law “were not anywhere near enough.”

Liberal Democrats accused the government of creating “heavy progress” in this case, and the ministers suggested that they succeed in pressure to “reduce” the bill.

“He wanted this campaign to be a campaign to persuade to put this issue in the National Discussion Center and to introduce this discussion in Parliament.”

He added: “I think what we will see in the government’s response to the bill is that they are ready to take some positive steps forward in this case and that they are committed to more work and I think this is really positive.”

Friday’s discussion in the House of Commons comes at a time when a report indicates that the majority of young people support the idea of ​​setting tougher rules on social media, as more than 60 % said they believe that they harm more than benefit.

The study, from Think Tank, included Britain Project and the new polling company, surveying more than 1,600 people between the ages of 16 and 24.

It found that three quarters were needed that there are stronger rules to protect young people from harm on social media, and social media was named as the most negative impact on the mental health of adolescents.