The debate about how to give young people safe access to smartphones and social media must include the priorities of children.
This was the message delivered by ten young people when they met with Labour MP Josh MacAlister in Westminster to discuss his Safer Phones Bill.
The group of teenagers aged 13 to 17, who came from across the UK, were brought together by the NSPCC, Barnardo’s, Action for Children, The Children’s Society and the National Children’s Bureau.
They explained to Josh MacAlister how they want the online world to be safer for them and about the various risks they face when using social media platforms including unwanted communication from strangers, addictive scrolling and exposure to distressing content.
At the same time, they said that having a smartphone and access to social media is now an integral part of their lives, helping them with their learning about issues they are passionate about, allowing them to better communicate, feel safe when in new environments, and enabling them to explore.
This comes as at the end of last year, Josh MacAlister introduced a Private Member’s Bill in Parliament to protect children from harms caused by excessive screen time. There are a range of measures that might be included, from raising the digital age of consent from 13 to 16 to strengthening Ofcom’s powers to protect children.
The day began with a tour around Parliament, followed by an in-depth discussion with Josh about his proposed Private Members Bill. The young people raised a range of topics including excessive screen time, mental health, and the inadequate protections they currently experience online.
They shared their hopes for a better online world, which included there being stronger age checks in place to ensure they have appropriate, safe experiences.
Speaking after the visit, Josh MacAlister, Labour MP for Whitehaven and Workington, said: “The interests of children are at the heart of this Bill. As we finalise the details, it was fantastic to hear first-hand what young people would like to see changed about the online world but concerning to hear how unsafe many of them currently feel”.
Yasin, a 14-year-old who attended the visit, said: “I found this visit really interesting; it really opened my eyes to the possibilities of what we can change about the online world. Large technology companies don’t care enough about the children using their sites. I hope we can change this and make social media platforms more suitable for children and young people.”
Alisha, 17, said: “This visit has been a monumental step in ensuring the safety of our youth. Having an MP share an interest in tackling the impact being online can have on mental wellbeing is great to see and I’m hopeful we can have happy, healthy futures as a result”.
James, aged 17, said: “Josh made sure we were comfortable during our visit. It’s so important that he’s speaking to us as young people as these issues will impact the next generation.”
Winter, aged 16, said: “This has been a productive discussion and was a good opportunity for us to share our views. Most important was our conversation about how smartphones are addictive by design and how parliamentarians need to address that. I hope that we can implement measures to tackle this issue.”
Kate Edwards, Associate Head for Child Safety Online at the NSPCC, said: “We know there can be a big difference between how young people use smartphones and how we use them as adults.
“That’s why it’s hugely welcome to see Josh MacAlister listening to what young people are telling him about their experiences and feeding it into his Private Members Bill
“Most importantly, we must ensure that the onus to protect children online is with tech companies. We must not penalise young people for the failures of these companies to properly embed child safety into the services they design.”
