Official Report · Chamber
Portfolio Question Time
This is the draft Official Report. The final version may differ.
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To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its recognition that inappropriate mobile phone use in schools can lead to increased distraction, online bullying, exposure to harmful content and a rise in antisocial behaviour, what measures it will take to ensure that any new legislation restricting mobile phone use in schools supports the mental wellbeing of young people while reducing these harms. (S7O-00440)
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The evidence that mobile phones disrupt young people’s education is undeniable, and it can go much further than that. Phones can disrupt sleep and wellbeing, and usage can also contribute to harms including bullying, harassment, radicalisation and grooming. Our schools must be safe, nurturing environments where pupils can learn free from distraction and from the wider harms of mobile phones.
Again, I draw on the behaviour in Scottish schools research that I mentioned to Mr Kerr and the frequency with which secondary school teachers raised the disruption that mobile phones are causing. We are currently consulting on the scope and extent of the restrictions that I intend to bring forward, and on any exemptions that might apply. All that is being done to inform legislation, and I will be engaging with members across the chamber as part of that process.
I highlight that—and this speaks directly to the question of the mental wellbeing of young people—young people’s voices will be heard in the development of the legislation. Whether we like it or not, their lives are heavily influenced by the online world, and they must be part of how we design support for them in response to that.
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The minister says that the Government wants to reduce distraction, bullying and harmful content, yet it has still not set out a clear national position. If the evidence already shows those harms, will the minister explain why the Government has not simply required schools to restrict mobile phone use during the school day? What specific evidence is the Government still waiting for before it acts to protect young people’s mental wellbeing?
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I will be succinct in responding to that: the law in Scotland does not allow us to do that. That is why I have to introduce legislation, on which I am currently consulting.
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Cabinet secretary, 27 per cent of young people have seen pornography by the age of 11, often on their own or other children’s smartphones. However, if a parent does not give their child a smartphone, it can leave that child socially isolated. The campaign by Smartphone Free Childhood allows parents to commit collectively to not giving their child a smartphone so that no child is left out. Will the Government support the campaign to inform parents and give them options to better protect their children?
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I assure Mr Dunlop personally, and on behalf of the Government—including my colleague the Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, who has responsibility for online harm—that we are very seized of the potential harm that can accrue to young people from the intense use of mobile phones, social media and various platforms, which have significantly increased in recent years.
I have said in the chamber before that I remember being in high school when the first smartphone went off in class and disrupted it. I think that the type of content to which Mr Dunlop alludes was being shared around the class. I was about 13 years old.
The intensification of such behaviour in recent years means that Governments must be prepared to take action. I have spoken about the legislation to restrict mobile phones in schools, which will be introduced soon. My colleague Siobhian Brown is engaging with social media companies. We are also engaging with the UK Government, because we have no powers in this Parliament to regulate technology. The UK Government must do that, and it must do so fully.
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