Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Baroness Cass Excerpts

Thursday 1st May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Cass (CB)]

My Lords, I am pleased to take part in this important debate. I draw attention to my interests set out in the register.

In bringing forward this Bill, the Government should be commended on their many laudable objectives in strengthening the safeguarding of children, removing barriers to opportunities in schools and improving the safety of the education system. However, any legislation addressing the subject of safeguarding children, and opportunity and safety in schools, cannot ignore the impact of digital technology on the lives of children and young people. Safety and opportunity—and, indeed, risk—have to be seen in relation to the contemporary world of 2025 and not the world as it was well over a decade ago.

We all appreciate the many benefits that the online world can bring to children and young people, so we do not need to rehearse those here. However, a visit to the NSPCC website provides a helpful listing of harms that children can suffer. It expands beyond the four classic categories of abuse to list 13 types of abuse. Most of these, including cyberbullying, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and exploitation, and grooming can be carried out online and even during school hours. It is not, however, just deliberate harm that should concern us; that is just the tip of the iceberg. There are multiple other risks associated with digital technology that have been discussed in this House, including adverse effects on learning, attention, sleep, educational attainment and mental health. Addictive apps are a particular problem, especially for boys.

My noble friend Lady Kidron and I recently hosted a meeting which brought together Peers with clinicians and academics in the field of child health. Among them were senior leaders within the medical community. The group was clear that we cannot wait for the evidence to give us all the answers about the adverse effects of digital technology and how to mitigate them. The evidence we already have, coupled with the views of young people, parents and teachers, is powerful enough that it would be negligent not to start taking action. The strong sense in the room was that this is a public health emergency. We need to learn through action, studying the approaches that are most impactful in harnessing technology for benefit while protecting vulnerable developing minds.

This is not just an issue of whether we ban smartphones in schools. There is a wide array of possible actions that can be part of a strategic, multifaceted approach to the problem. For example, RSE is compulsory in schools, yet there is no requirement to teach young people how to manage the digital technology that occupies so many hours of their lives, nor indeed to include appropriate training for the staff who are teaching our infants or older children. There is insufficient consideration of the impact of loss of safe play spaces, which would give children alternative recreational activities to spending time on their digital devices. There is no focus on providing education and advice to parents on how to manage access to technology so that they can facilitate their children’s learning and development.

I very much hope that the Government will be receptive to a range of amendments that will address these deficits in the Bill, and thus gift our children with a safer and healthier future. Without such measures, we are looking at losing a generation to poor mental health and at even more young adults being unable to contribute to the workforce. This is not just a moral problem but an economic timebomb that we can ill afford.