MP for Warwick and Leamington Matt Western, has weighed in on the debate over smartphone free childhood and the use of social media for under-16s, saying he believes 'protecting children from the potential harms of smartphones and social media is sensible'. 

The Smartphone Free Childhood campaign was launched in 2024 and advocates for children to have childhoods free of smartphones until they are 14 and social media until 16.

The campaign encourages parents to collectively choose to delay smartphones to make the process easier. 

Many schools have adopted the approach and either have banned phones entirely from schools or ask children to hand their phones in at the start of the day to be put in a pouch until the end of the school day. 

Data from the University of Birmingham shows the average amount of time UK teenagers spent on their smartphones is 35 hours a week, equivalent to a full-time job. 

Matt Western has shared that he has been taking soundings on this issue, both from schools and parents, and watching closely what has been done with social media in Australia.  

The Government in Australia has banned social media for under-16s and argued that it will reduce the negative impact of the platforms "design features that encourage [young people] to spend more time on screens, while also serving up content that can harm their health and wellbeing."

According to figures from Ofsted in 2021, 90% of girls and 50% of boys have been sent unsolicited explicit content. Data from the BBFC in 2022 showed that 51% of UK 11–13-year-olds have seen pornography, mostly unintentionally. 

 Commenting on the campaign, Matt Western said: "It is no secret to any of us that childhoods now look different to how they did two decades ago, and smartphones and social media are a major part of that. There is obviously much good which can come from greater connectivity, but we would be fooling ourselves to believe there are no negatives. 

"I have been watching and listening to work around this issue for months and am particularly interested by the steps taken in Australia over social media for under 16s.  

'I firmly believe that action is needed to ensure this generation of children and those that follow are protected and not exposed to deeply inappropriate content for their age. I will continue to watch these efforts closely and share my views, and those many have shared with me, with appropriate Ministers."