The Education Committee today launches a new inquiry, screen time: impacts on education and wellbeing.
MPs will look into how apps, the internet and access to smart phones and tablets can impact children’s education and wellbeing, from the early years to the start of adulthood.
As well as hearing the latest research on the risks and benefits of children’s exposure to screen time, the cross-party Committee will examine the current practices used by schools, and guidance offered to families, about how to manage children’s use of online resources and social media. The inquiry’s full terms of reference are included below.
Research by the media and communications regulator Ofcom in 2021 found that 99% of households with children have access to the internet, and that by the age of eight a child will typically spend 2 hour and 45 minutes online per day. It rises to over four hours by age 11-12, while a child is still in primary school.
