Parents urged to set boundaries around children's use of the internet
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Loading... - Lucy Mccann
- 20 Jun 2021
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The culture secretary has said it is up to parents to set boundaries around their children’s use of the internet and has condemned unlimited and unsupervised access to smartphones.
Matt Hancock, whose brief includes digital issues, agreed parenting in the digital era was difficult but he said it was not impossible and he urged parents to set boundaries around new technology in the same way they have always set boundaries for their children.
His comments on parental responsibility followed his earlier call for more headteachers to ban mobile phones in schools.
In a speech to an NSPCC conference on children’s online safety, he said: “It’s easy to see why some parents feel uncomfortable with the technology their children are using, especially when their children may know far more about it than they do. Parenting in this digital age is hard but it does not mean it’s impossible,” he told the audience.
“Setting boundaries on the use of new technology is important just in the same way as we set boundaries for children in every sense. The technology may be new but the principles have not changed.”
He warned: “Unlimited and unsupervised access to smartphones can be a portal to some very serious risks. And the chief medical officer has highlighted growing concerns around the impact on children’s mental health. This backs up every parent’s instinct; that children must be protected.”
Responding to his comments, an NSPCC spokesperson said: “Of course parents need to help their children navigate the online world, and to agree rules and boundaries as a family.
“The problem is that at the moment parents can often struggle with those decisions as they are faced with no consistent child safety standards across social networks.”
Hancock, who has three young children, told the Guardian in a recent interview that he does not allow them mobile phones, saying: “They don’t have access to the devices. They don’t have phones. Why do they need phones? They’re children, they’re 11.”
Elaborating during his speech at Wednesday’s conference, he added: “I firmly believe that very young children don’t need to have access to social media at all. After all, they are children.
“Social media is not designed for under-13s. It is often against the terms and conditions for children to be using these platforms.”
On mobile phones in schools, the culture secretary said: “Whilst it is up to individual schools to decide rather than government, I admire the many headteachers who take a firm approach and do not allow mobiles to be used during the school day.”
He also quoted a recent study in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research which showed that mobile phones could have an impact on working memory and measured intelligence, even if the phone was on a table or in a bag.
A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: “Headteachers already, of course, have the power to ban mobile phones in schools and we support their right to do so.
“We know that 95% of schools already impose some kind of restriction on mobile phones use during the school day, with a substantial number banning them from the school premises altogether.”
The NSPCC said there needed to be more evidence that banning children from using mobile phones in schools altogether would help keep them safer. “What we do know is that children are being exposed to unacceptable risks online from bullying, grooming and harmful content.
“We want to help children and adults identify risks so they can use the internet safely. That’s why the government must legislate to force social networks to improve child safety, and design safety in from the start, not as an optional extra.”
