Mental Health: Young People

Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho Excerpts

Thursday 9th February 2017 Grand Committee

[Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho (CB)]

My Lords, I too thank the noble Baroness, Lady Massey, for her leadership on this issue.

There is no greater advocate for the change that the internet has enabled than me. I see its benefits on a daily basis and have worked my whole working life within the sector. However, even I do not believe that we have yet understood, and developed the frameworks to help our children deal with, both the benefits and the destruction of this incredible revolution.

There is so much to be positive about. I see my nephews playing multiplayer games and building incredible things, connected to children they have never met before across the world. I see my godchildren playing chess in complicated ways with players they have never seen before in countries all over the world. However, it is hard to ignore some of the data and studies that also show how this technology is affecting children in a negative way. The BBC says that 62% of children on its websites are looking for mental health-related data. I look at this issue from a different angle: the number of children who are using some of the networks that were never intended for them. I declare an interest as a director of Twitter. Although we do not have so many children on our network, Facebook says that 52% of eight year-olds sign up to Facebook, despite an age limit of 14. I am not against social networks—quite the opposite—but there are reasons why they are age-appropriate.

The positives of this amazing technology must be countered by an understanding from parents and teachers about what their children are really doing. I had a small absence from your Lordships’ House as I now have seven-month-old identical twin boys, and this issue is front and centre as they see me with my iPhone or my iPad—probably too much—and immediately their faces turn towards it. I find this world hard to navigate; how it must be if you are living in one of the 1 million families in this country who do not have basic digital skills, I dread to think, let alone if you are a teacher who may themselves be struggling with understanding this complex new world, yet you are responsible for a class of children who may be at varying degrees of usage and attention in the classroom.

I feel strongly that we must create new ways of thinking about this problem. It starts with schools but it must also be led by parents. I pay tribute to my noble friend Lady Kidron who has done a lot of work on children and their rights, but we need to go further. I am keen to understand how we could use more creative thinking and I urge the Minister to consider this. Some amazing people around the world are looking at the issue, and I cite Danah Boyd, who is based at Stanford, as a world-leading expert. I would love to see how parents can be given comfort and reassurance in these uncertain times so as to make sure that the benefits continue to outweigh some of the dangers.