Parents should impose phone curfew to protect children, kids tsar warns
26 December 2022, 10:51 | Updated: 26 December 2022, 11:05
Children should be banned from using phones in their bedrooms stop them seeing 'seriously dark' online content at night, Britain’s Children’s Commissioner has warned.
Dame Rachel de Souza has called on parents to put a curfew on mobile use, and delay letting their children use social media as long as possible.
The commissioner makes the plea after conducting research into extent to which youngsters are accessing harmful posts on the internet.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Ms de Souza said: “I can’t unhear Molly Russell’s father telling me about how she was scrolling through those posts at night.”
The 14-year-old took her own life in 2017 after watching self-harm and suicide on social media.
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She said: “Fifty per cent of them in the last four weeks had seen really disturbing things… violence, gore, pro-dieting, pro-suicide, really horrible things.”
Though screen-time is fine is small doses, she said: “I definitely would say no phones or social media in the bedroom.
"I feel really strongly about that, having heard those cases…it's a child's brain so I would be really careful around nighttime use.”
The Government’s incoming Online Safety Bill aims to make tech firms do more to keep people safe online.
According to the commissioner's survey of 2,000 children, half of kids have seen harmful posts in the last four weeks.
Laws will punish companies that fail to remove content that's harmful to youngsters, even if it's legal.
Firms that fail to shield children from harmful material can be hit with fines up to a tenth of their global turnover, though Ms de Souza told the outlet she remains open to jailing the worst offenders.
Addressing the threat of prison time for bosses, she said: “I'm always keen to look at as much accountability to the social media companies as possible, because they're making their fortunes on this so they must keep our children safe.
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“So I would explore any accountability and every accountability.”
She added: “What I would say is that the social media companies now need to step up and show some moral purpose… we want to see some action from them.”
Ms de Sousa said she wants them to strengthen age-verification mechanisms.
After speaking with pupils, the commissioner says many of them now see pornography for the first time as young as eight because of the proliferation of mobile phones, and warned this is dangerous as viewing hardcore sex content will make children think that is normal behaviour.
She said: “First of all, delay buying that mobile phone and letting your children on social media sites as long as you can.”
But the educationalist also so said parents shouldn't just have “The Chat” with children about sex, but should talk with them about it little and often.
She said: “Talk often, but talk in an age appropriate way so it's normal and part of life not just one chat.”
