MPs could debate the proposals in the new year, if there is enough parliamentary time.
Private members’ bills rarely make it into law without government backing but they are an opportunity for backbenchers to raise an issue’s profile.
And the Safer Phones Bill adds momentum to growing calls to restrict children’s smartphone use, with local schools coming together to revise their phone policies and parent groups joining forces to delay giving their child a smartphone.
Some of those in favour of smartphones say they provide good opportunities for child development, including socialising, and there is little evidence supporting restrictions of devices in schools.
Mr MacAlister is using the bill to call for:
-
further regulation of the design, supply, marketing and use of mobile phones by under-16s, if needed
“Countries around the world are now taking bold action and our children risk being left behind,” Mr MacAlister, who previously led an independent review into children’s social care, said.
“It’s time to have the national debate here in the UK.”
The bill is being backed by former Conservative Education Secretary Kit Malthouse MP, the current and former children’s commissioners and a coalition of parents’ campaign groups, school leaders, children’s charities and teaching unions.
Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Pepe Di’lasio said: “It is not enough to rely solely on parents and schools teaching children about the dangers of smartphones.
“We have reached a point where regulation is required over their sale and the conduct of online platforms.”
Ormiston Chadwick Academy, in Cheshire, became a phone-free school at the start of this term.
