Screen Time: Impacts on education and wellbeing
Education Committee
Closed
Inquiry
The Education Committee will assess how screentime can support and impact children’s development, wellbeing and educational outcomes. The Committee will also examine the effectiveness of digital safety education in schools and the ways in which schools and parents can be better supported to manage children’s screen usage. The inquiry will …
Read more
17
Recommendations
15
Conclusions
1
Report
4
Oral sessions
4
Events
Activity timeline 10 events
22 May
2025
2025
25 May
2024
2024
Report published
12 Mar
2024
2024
Oral evidence
12 Mar
2024
2024
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
20 Feb
2024
2024
Oral evidence
20 Feb
2024
2024
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
9 Jan
2024
2024
Oral evidence
9 Jan
2024
2024
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
21 Nov
2023
2023
Oral evidence
21 Nov
2023
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
Oral evidence sessions 4 sessions
12 Mar 2024
View on parliament.uk
Panel 1; Panel 2
Charlotte Briscall · Department for Education
Kate Dixon · Department for Education
Mark Bunting · Ofcom
Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP · Department for Education
Yih-Choung Teh · Ofcom
20 Feb 2024
View on parliament.uk
Screen time: impacts on education and wellbeing
Dame Rachel de Souza · Office of the Children's Commissioner for England
David Wright · The UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC)
Ian Critchley · National Police Chiefs’ Council
Jessica Edwards · Barnardo’s
9 Jan 2024
View on parliament.uk
Screen time: impacts on education and wellbeing
Darren Northcott · NASUWT The Teachers' Union
Elizabeth Anderson · Learning Foundation and the Digital Poverty Alliance
John McGee · BBC Education
Jonathan Baggaley · PSHE Association
The Baroness Kidron OBE · 5Rights Foundation
21 Nov 2023
View on parliament.uk
Screen time: impacts on education and wellbeing
Carolyn Bunting MBE · Internet Matters
Dr Amy Orben · University of Cambridge
Dr Bernadka Dubicka · Hull and York Medical School, University of York
Rafe Clayton · University of Leeds
Vicki Shotbolt · Parent Zone
Reports 1 report · click to expand
| Title | HC No. | Published | Items | Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fourth Report - Screen time: impacts on education and wellbeing | HC 118 | 25 May 2024 | 32 | Responded |
Recommendations & Conclusions
3 results
12
Conclusion
Accepted in Part
Fourth Report - Screen time: impac…
Educational apps lack quality standards and an evidence base, confusing parents.
There are over half a million apps claiming to be educational within leading app stores such as the Apple App Store and Google Play, but no quality standards for educational content or design features that apps must align with to …
Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the lack of quality standards and is working to improve the evidence base for EdTech products. It has appointed the Chartered College of Teaching to develop criteria for evaluating EdTech effectiveness and has published AI safety expectations, though it states it will not mandate individual products or directly set quality standards for apps in app stores.
Department for Education
View details
28
Recommendation
Accepted in Part
Fourth Report - Screen time: impac…
Draw up legislation to regulate AI and protect children's data from operators
The next Government must draw up legislation in the first year of the new Parliament on regulating AI or risk the technology developing faster than legislation can be drawn up to control it, ultimately causing additional harm to children. AI …
Read more
Government Response
The government is developing targeted legislative proposals for powerful AI systems, building on existing voluntary commitments. For children's data, it commits to using secondary legislation to require the ICO to produce a Code of Practice on AI after the Data (Use and Access) Bill receives Royal Assent, which will include guidance on protecting children's data.
Department for Education
View details
30
Recommendation
Accepted in Part
Fourth Report - Screen time: impac…
Produce risk assessment on edtech and AI in schools; Ofcom to assess safety
The next Government should produce a risk assessment on the use of edtech and AI in schools as soon as possible, and particularly on the extent to which it poses a risk to the security of children’s data. The safety …
Read more
Government Response
The government states it is ensuring AI products are safe for schools by publishing AI safety expectations and developing teacher guidance, due before academic year 2025-26. DfE is also funding Ofsted to gather insights on AI use and risk mitigation, and providing guidance for schools on protecting data and cybersecurity, but does not commit to a comprehensive government risk assessment or Ofcom's product-level assessment.
Department for Education
View details