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MPs will questions experts on the effects of screen time on children’s development and wellbeing in the first session of its new inquiry, with part two of the session focusing on pupils’ education about online safety and how parents are supported. 

The session comes after the cross-party Education Committee received 48 written evidence submissions for this inquiry. 

In the first panel, academics from the universities of Cambridge, Leeds and York will be asked to consider the lack of recent academic research into this subject, and why evidence regarding a relationship between screen time and poor mental health appears to be mixed. They will also be asked to consider the extent to which there may be links between excessive screen use and issues such as shortened attention spans, quality of sleep, and leading a more sedentary lifestyle. 

In the second panel, witnesses from Parent Zone and Internet Matters will be asked for their views on the way online safety is taught in schools and the guidance offered by the Department for Education. The Department issued guidance to schools and colleges this year on filtering and monitoring standards, and ‘online safety’ features in the curriculum through computing, citizenship and relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). 

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