Minister says “debate won” on school smartphone

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle told the BBC that the debate over smartphones in schools had been “won”, with schools choosing to voluntarily restrict the use of smartphones by pupils.

He said he was not aware of “a single school” in his region of south-east England that allowed devices to be used “freely” during lessons “let alone in the classroom”. .

Although the government did not ban smartphones, recent guidance Ensure all schools implement effective smartphone bans.

But campaign group Smartphone Free Childhood says more decisive action is needed to remove devices from schools.

“This is an emergency situation that requires immediate support from the government,” co-founder Claire Furneyhough said.

Kyle was speaking as the US and UK announced their first joint agreement aimed at keeping children safe online.

Consideration will be given to establishing a joint online safety working group to share evidence and expertise and study the impact of social media on children.

Mr. Kyle said the agreement extends the “historic partnership” between the two countries to “delivering a safer online world for the next generation.”

But Smartphone Free Childhood told the BBC that it was not enough and that parents were “waiting to see if this UK-US agreement brings any change when the future of their children is at stake.” I don’t have time to do it,” he said.

The agreement was announced in joint statement bilaterally.

At the heart of this will be a joint working group that will focus on areas such as “driving greater transparency from platforms” and “deeper understanding of the impacts and risks of the digital world on young people, including new technologies such as generative AI.” work on.

The UK government acknowledged that “there is currently limited research and evidence on the causal effects of social media on children and young people”.

One researcher welcomed the agreement’s move to address this.

“Policies and guidelines to support young people navigating the digital world need to be based on solid evidence, but so far we have had less success in establishing causality when it comes to impacts on wellbeing.” said Professor Pete Etchells of the university. bath spa university

The US and UK also said they expected technology platforms to move “even faster” to protect children.

Questioning whether this is really enough to spur them to action, Kyle said: “When you see two countries like the United States and the United States coming together, technology companies realize that we mean business. “They will understand that there is no place to hide when it comes to keeping us safe.” The people and our children.”

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement that the U.S. is taking the necessary steps “together with our partners in the United Kingdom to protect the privacy, safety, and mental health of children.”

The UK’s Online Safety Act requires online platforms to take steps to protect the safety of children and reduce risks.

However, this has not yet been fully enforced. Guidance for businesses on how to comply with the new legislation is still being produced by communications regulator Ofcom.

Professor Sonia Livingstone, director of the Center for Digital Futures for Children, said it was paramount that these and other regulations were enforced.

He told the BBC: “There is no doubt that the priority for US-UK cooperation is that British and European law is respected in the US and enforced by US-based companies.”