Schools: Mobile Phones

Baroness Cass Excerpts

Thursday 28th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Cass (CB) (Maiden Speech)]

My Lords, it is a great honour to be making my maiden speech in your Lordships’ House. It certainly was not a future I could have envisaged when I started my career as a doctor in 1982. In those days, induction was simple; I was handed a bleep and a list of patients and was pointed in the general direction of the ward—although, to allay any panic in the House, I should say that hospital inductions have improved considerably since then. My arrival here was quite different. The induction process organised by the Clerk of the Parliaments and his team has been superb, and Black Rod’s reassurance that time is on my side, and that this is a marathon and not a sprint, did much to calm my nerves. The kind welcome from Members on all sides of the House has been truly heartwarming, and I want particularly to thank my supporters, the noble Baronesses, Lady Hollins and Lady Neuberger, who have been an ongoing source of wise counsel, as has my staff contact, James Galbraith.

One of my early memories from my houseman years was running for a cardiac arrest just days into a new job. I was well ahead of the pack as I rounded a corner, opened what I took to be the ward door and found myself in a broom cupboard. With the rest of the team hard behind me, I laid low until they had passed, before emerging and arriving last at the scene. Since arriving here, I have spent even more time lost, and I fear that the endlessly kind and patient doorkeepers will be rescuing me from broom cupboards for some time to come.

At medical school, adult medicine occupied 95% of my training so, like most young doctors, when I started my first paediatric post I was terrified. My registrar told me not to worry: children were just like adults, only smaller. Of course it was not true, but it got me through my first night. Indeed, many years later when I was moonlighting on an adult ward, I prayed that they were just like children, only bigger.

Everyone in this House knows that children are not like adults, only smaller. They are in a dynamic state of physical, personal and emotional development, so I am delighted to give my maiden speech as part of this important debate moved by my noble friend Lady Kidron, to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude for her tireless work in advocating for children’s rights and safety in the online world.

My noble friend has already told us about the impact of smartphones on attention, learning and culture. Some people have questioned the research, suggesting that an association between smartphone use and learning problems does not prove causation. However, if we imagine a deliberate social experiment where we exposed children to several hours of screen time a day, including potentially harmful content, some negative effects would surely be inevitable—and that is what we have done.

With schools already taking positive action to restrict smartphone use, I would like to make three points. First, we need young people’s voices in the national debate. Two recent studies of 13 to 18 year-olds found that 15% to 20% reported addictive-like smartphone use. This was linked to higher rates of anxiety, depression and insomnia. The good news is that a majority recognised the problem and were already taking active steps to reduce their smartphone use.

Young people are worried about this issue. It will doubtless be a hot topic among many active youth groups such as those at the National Children’s Bureau, 5Rights and the UK Youth Parliament, which even now has a Select Committee taking evidence on the links between social media and youth violence. If we do not engage these young advocates to be partners in our deliberations and actions, imposing restrictions in school may just produce behaviours akin to smoking behind the bike shed.

Secondly, we know that some young children are at particular risk in the online world; for example, those who are struggling with mental health or have a history of being bullied. Reducing exposure in school may be one strand of a strategy to address this, but more research and action are needed to protect this vulnerable group.

Finally, we need to take a public health-style approach to this issue. Parents and teachers need support and information to help them work together rather than pulling in different directions. We need a broad education programme aimed at helping everyone to understand both the risks and benefits of smartphones, and how to use them wisely, safely and in ways which do not compromise learning, mental health and social development.