safescreenscampaign
@safe_screens
We are campaigning for regulatory & societal change to protect kids from online harm, addictive screens & edtech in schools.
Study shows owning a smartphone before 13 is linked with poorer mental health. Calls for policy approach to mirror PH models regulating tobacco & alcohol “evidence is strongest in U13s, with growing evidence for extending protective measures to ages 14–18” eurekalert.org/news-releases/…
Well done, Portugal. Labour are sitting on their hands while more countries act to get phones out of classrooms.Fewer distractions, more real conversations, less bullying & a drop in poor behaviour prove why phones have no place in schools. We must act now shorturl.at/JL43y
Completely endorse this. No child under 14 should have their own smartphone. They’re *designed* to be compulsive. Adults can barely put them down. They rob children of being present. Monmouthshire teachers urge smartphone ban for children under 14 bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…
This is more evidence to support the idea that schools should restrict/ ban smartphones. Smartphone bans in Dutch schools have improved learning, study finds in Netherlands theguardian.com/world/2025/jul…
Absolutely spot on from @LauraTrottMP “If we ease teachers’ workloads by embracing this technology without caution, we risk crushing critical thinking underfoot.”
Let’s not sleepwalk into cardboard cutout students in schools. A recent MIT study showed students using AI wrote nearly identical essays, rewarded by AI but marked down by humans. To protect creativity and real learning, we must not forget the value of pen and paper.
Powerful stories from young people on the impact of social media & smartphones. The Online Safety Act won’t protect children from addictive, experience blocking outcomes, body image issues, impact on sleep. Are we really going to keep doing this to kids? theguardian.com/society/2025/j…
Smartphones are an obvious disaster. Children are not effectively learning, interacting or speaking AND they are experience blockers. It’s hard to believe there is a single upside. A powerful film. Let’s, at the very least, get smartphones properly out of schools.
It's time to get phones out of the classroom. Our new film looks at the harm a smartphone-based childhood is doing to our kids.
In my clinic, I see the impact of children having access to smartphones from a young age: delayed language skills, poor attention & limited social skills. This affects later academic achievement, mental health & future life chances. Smartphones don’t belong in tiny hands.
It's time to get phones out of the classroom. Our new film looks at the harm a smartphone-based childhood is doing to our kids.
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The Lords debated our smartphone ban yesterday. Ministers claim there's no evidence of a problem. They are totally captured by lobbyists. There's tonnes of evidence! Take just one RCT: Lee et al (2021) College students were randomly assigned to either hand their phone in or…
Indeed. @CommonsEd reported in 2024 that the negative impacts of screentime are well documented & the overwhelming weight of evidence suggests that the harms of screen-time & social media significantly outweigh the benefits for young children. What is Government waiting for?
The Government couldn’t be more wrong. First they called a school phone ban a “gimmick.” Now they claim there’s no clear evidence screens are harming our children. We are drowning in evidence. Ministers must wake up and act before it’s too late.
Two incredible advocates 👏
Just had the pleasure of meeting @Miss_Snuffy Headteacher at Michaela Community School, viewing this amazing school and also discussing the complete ban of phones they have at their school. Well done!
Parents and teachers need the support of regulation to mitigate the harm social media and smartphones are causing to children’s brains. Spot on from @Miss_Snuffy
“They don’t know how difficult it is for parents to be able to keep their children offline…Children really are breaking their brains” Headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh says social media should be banned for under 16s, but parents “need support from the government” #bbcqt
Must read thread 👇
BREAKING: MIT just completed the first brain scan study of ChatGPT users & the results are terrifying. Turns out, AI isn't making us more productive. It's making us cognitively bankrupt. Here's what 4 months of data revealed: (hint: we've been measuring productivity all wrong)
The background to this eminently reasonable question is in the article linked to below: under new rules in place from Sept @educationgovuk will mandate all reception kids- i.e. 4 year olds - to sit the reception baseline assessment on iPADs. The Minister's dismissal was wrong,…
Every day we have new evidence of the harms screens are doing. The Govt could not explain why they are ignoring this & still pressing ahead with screen based assessments for children as young as 4. Normalising screen time for children is the opposite of what we should be doing.
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Most parents wish that their kids grew up in a world with no social media. Same level of regret as for alcohol and guns. Smartphones and Youtube were lower. Bicycles were regretted by only 9%, despite kids sometimes getting hurt on bikes: @HarrisPoll nytimes.com/2025/06/18/opi…
Government repeatedly tells us all schools have a smartphone ban in place when in fact just 11% have an effective bell to bell ban. Now @educationgovuk are introducing tests on touch screen devices for 4yr olds. @LauraTrottMP is right. They are asleep at the wheel.
We’ve sleepwalked into a screen-addicted childhood, it doesn’t have to be this way. Children as young as 4 should not be doing assessments on screens. We must ban smartphones in schools, bring back pen & paper for exams & ban social media for u16s. Labour are asleep at the wheel.
Home Secretary @YvetteCooperMP tells MPs the Casey Report describes how child sexual exploitation is changing, with social media apps being used to lure children into physical abuse. “If Rotherham were to happen again today it would start online." bbc.co.uk/news/live/c629…
@CommonsEd concluded that “the overwhelming weight of evidence suggests that the harms of screen time significantly outweigh the benefits for young children”. So why is @educationgovuk ignoring this evidence? @safe_screens @Miss_Snuffy @UsforThemUK
Every day we have new evidence of the harms screens are doing. The Govt could not explain why they are ignoring this & still pressing ahead with screen based assessments for children as young as 4. Normalising screen time for children is the opposite of what we should be doing.
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Thank you @LauraTrottMP you are absolutely right. Having not given my son a smartphone we now struggle to access homework because it is all set through apps: schools need to address the environment they create by signing up to endless ed tech.
This excellent and very clear question was side stepped by the Minister. The Government is failing to answer why @educationgovuk are introducing tests on digital touch screen devices for 4 year old children who are just starting school.
Every day we have new evidence of the harms screens are doing. The Govt could not explain why they are ignoring this & still pressing ahead with screen based assessments for children as young as 4. Normalising screen time for children is the opposite of what we should be doing.