The House of Lords has amended the children’s wellbeing and schools bill to include a clause that would force ministers to enact a social media ban for under-16s.
John Nash, the Conservative peer and former academies minister who put forward the amendment, told the upper house the country faced “nothing short of a societal catastrophe caused by the fact that so many of our children are addicted to social media”.
It places further pressure on the government to enact a ban, something it has pledged to consult on following growing calls for action.
Sir Keir Starmer will now need to decide whether to let the bill pass back through the Commons with Nash’s amendment included.
It would require the government to pass legislation requiring all regulated social media companies to “use highly effective age-assurance measures to prevent children under the age of 16 from becoming or being users”.
‘Number one cause of disruptive behaviour’
Another amendment, which also passed in the Lords, would seek to ban under-18s from using virtual private networks (VPNs) that could allow them to skirt such a ban.
“Many teenagers are spending long hours — five, six, seven or more a day — on social media,” Nash, the founder and chair of Future Academies, told peers.
“Our teachers say that it is the number one cause of disruptive behaviour, and, in their view, will be the biggest source of pressure for students in the future. Our children are turning up at school sleep-deprived.”
It comes as the government announced Ofsted will check every school’s policy on mobile phones. New “tougher guidance” will also ensure they will be “expected to be phone-free by default”.
The new guidance is non-statutory. However, a government consultation will consider whether leaders “should have a clear legal obligation to consider the guidance in setting and implementing mobile phone policies”.
The Department for Education said this week that “immediate action will include Ofsted checking school mobile phone policy … with schools expected to be phone-free by default thanks to today’s announcement”.
But it did not say if “immediate” meant inspectors would start checks from tomorrow.
The watchdog will “examine both schools’ mobile phone policies and how effectively they are implemented when judging behaviour during inspections.
“Schools that are struggling will get one-to-one support from attendance and behaviour hub schools that are already effectively implementing phone bans.”
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