- News & Comment
-
Online Shop
Online Services
Looseleafs
Law Reports
Books and eBooks
-
CPD & Events
Webinars
- Authors
- About Family Law
- Contact
The government has announced a wide-ranging consultation on children’s use of mobile phones and social media, alongside immediate measures to strengthen the enforcement of mobile phone bans in schools. The proposals form part of a broader policy agenda aimed at improving children’s wellbeing and online safety, with potential implications for education law, safeguarding practice and family justice.
The consultation, launched jointly by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department for Education, will examine whether further legal and regulatory intervention is required to address concerns about excessive screen time, addictive online features and children’s exposure to harmful content. Ministers have indicated that options under consideration include restricting access to social media for children below a specified age, raising the digital age of consent, and limiting design features such as infinite scrolling and ‘streaks’ that encourage compulsive use.
The review builds on the Online Safety Act, which already imposes duties on platforms to protect children from harmful content and requires robust age assurance for adult material. The government has stated that the Act was not intended to be the final word on children’s online safety, and that further measures may be necessary to address the cumulative impact of technology on children’s development and mental health.
Alongside the consultation, the government has issued strengthened guidance on mobile phone use in schools. Schools in England are now expected to operate as phone-free environments by default, with pupils having no access to mobile devices during lessons, breaks or between classes. Ofsted inspectors will be required to assess both the existence of mobile phone policies and how effectively they are enforced when evaluating behaviour during inspections.
Although almost all schools already have some form of mobile phone policy, government data suggests inconsistent implementation, particularly in secondary schools. Ministers have positioned the new guidance as a move from expectation to enforcement, with additional support offered to schools struggling to implement bans through the Attendance and Behaviour Hubs programme.
For family and children law practitioners, the measures are likely to be relevant in cases involving school attendance, behaviour exclusions, and safeguarding concerns linked to online activity. The guidance also sets expectations for staff conduct, including discouraging personal phone use by teachers in front of pupils, reinforcing the message that mobile devices are not integral to the learning environment.
The consultation will also consider how best to support parents in managing children’s digital lives. The government has committed to producing evidence-based screen time guidance for parents of children aged 5 to 16, supplementing existing guidance for under-fives. Ministers have framed this as part of a wider effort to support families, rather than placing sole responsibility on schools or platforms.
As part of the evidence-gathering process, the government will review international approaches to regulating children’s access to social media, including proposals adopted in Australia. A series of nationwide engagement events with parents, young people and civil society organisations is planned, with a formal government response expected in the summer.
The announcement sits within a broader package of policy initiatives affecting children and young people, including curriculum reform, digital literacy education and the National Youth Strategy. It also follows the publication of new government-backed safety standards for artificial intelligence in education, aimed at preventing the use of exploitative or addictive design features in educational technology.
For practitioners, the consultation signals a potential shift towards more prescriptive regulation of children’s digital environments, with future reforms likely to intersect with parental responsibility, education law and safeguarding duties. While no immediate changes to primary legislation have been announced beyond school guidance, the government has made clear that further statutory intervention remains a live possibility depending on the consultation’s outcome.
