Notts parents and MP campaign for tighter restrictions on kids' smartphone use

A Nottinghamshire MP is joining local campaigners in their calls for tighter regulation on smartphone usage in children and young people. Rushcliffe MP James Naish (Lab), is supporting the Safer Phones Bill, which aims to prevent smartphone addiction in children.

He said he had decided to support it after becoming convinved it is now “very clear” the devices are impacting the health of young people. The bill was introduced by Whitehaven and Workington Labour MP Josh MacAlister, saying families and teachers need support to cut down children’s daily smartphone screentime.

The full bill will be drafted in the coming weeks ahead of its second reading in Parliament. Measures being considered include raising the age of internet adulthood from 13 to 16 to strengthening the regulatory powers of watchdogs like Ofcom to protect children.

It is being backed by the Smartphone Free Childhood (SFC) campaign group, whose Nottinghamshire members hosted an event last night (November 27) at South Nottinghamshire Academy in Radcliffe-on-Trent, Rushcliffe. Mr Naish, through a video message, offered his support to the growing SFC Nottinghamshire group at the meeting.

The wider SFC campaign is based on the view smartphone use by children exposes them to harmful content, the addictive algorithms of common apps and puts them at risk of worsening mental health. Since September more than 70,000 parents have signed the parent pact- promising to not give their child a smartphone until they reach the age of 14.

The Nottinghamshire SFC group has gone from 320 members in September to 536 this week. Arwen Spencer and her partner James Spencer have two children aged four and seven.

Arwen says she noticed “unrecognisable” behavioural changes in her seven-year-old son’s behaviour when his iPad daily limit ran out. James is hoping for better education on the dangers of smartphone use introduced in schools.

He said the movement was about “making a stand in junior schools, working with head teachers and teachers around not having phones in high schools”.

He added: “To get the scale, by working with MPs in the government and the work is going around for the guidelines of a bill- that will make a big impact.”

Arwen and James decided to limit usage to the weekends and on long car journeys, and say their son now rarely asks for the iPad. Emily Dean, from Radcliffe-on-Trent, has restricted screentime for her seven-year-old son for similar reasons to Arwen and James and is hoping to get more schools on side with the campaign's message.

Emily said: “I feel really encouraged by the endorsement from James Naish, we’ve had the chance to speak to local head teachers and get their thoughts on the movement and their encouragement as well. We want to engage with the South Notts Academy Trust so there’s a cohesive message across all the schools in the trust and that filters right down to the primary schools.”

Dr Laura Spells, who is part of a similar action group, PAPAYA, gave a presentation at the meeting and is hoping for stricter enforcement in schools.

She said: “We would ideally want all secondary schools to be entirely smartphone free, no phones on the premises or locked away because they interfere with children’s concentration. In an ideal world that would be levelled out so everybody has the same rules and the Government helps schools to enforce that.”

In a video message played at yesterday’s event, James Naish said: “[In Parliament] I was able to listen to some parents talk about their concerns and the harrowing stories they have experienced as a result of phone time. I think it’s very clear that excess screen time is having a major impact on mental health, sleep and learning for students.

“We’re at that point where we need to talk about the addictive qualities of phones, how we can make a better world which empowers teachers, parents and students and children to distance themselves from phones or at least make educated choices about how long they spend on them.”

Many smartphone companies, including iPhone manufacturers Apple, do not have a specified age recommendation for owning a phone, but a child under 13 cannot create an Apple ID account without their parent’s consent. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, was contacted for comment, but did not respond. Snapchat also did not reply.

Meta’s website says its commitment to child protection is “led by a comprehensive set of community standards... Meta has zero-tolerance rules prohibiting abuse and policies that place importance on your child’s safety. Our cutting-edge technologies prevent, detect and remove violations.”

Snapchat states on its website: “Like many other social networks and messaging apps, the minimum age to use Snapchat is 13 years old. Additionally, users aged 13-17 must have permission from a parent or legal guardian to use the app."