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22/04/2026

‘Either you stand with children or big tech’. What more do we need to see?

As health professionals, we are increasingly witnessing the impact of digital environments on children’s health and wellbeing. The evidence is building, the experiences are being shared, and the consequences are becoming harder to ignore.

Please take a moment to write to your MP — it takes seconds.�
Whatever political considerations are at play, this is ultimately a question of children’s health and safety in the modern world. We must remain clear in what is being asked and continue to apply pressure for meaningful action.

Will the right decisions be made today?

Alongside this, we want to express our deepest respect and gratitude to the bereaved parents, with the truly extraordinary Ellen Roome MBE.

In the face of unimaginable loss, they have shown remarkable courage and determination, choosing not to step back, but to stand up and advocate for the safety of other children.
Their voices have brought urgency, clarity and humanity to this issue in a way that cannot be ignored.

The Government has announced that mobile phone restrictions in schools will now be made statutory.On the surface, this i...
21/04/2026

The Government has announced that mobile phone restrictions in schools will now be made statutory.

On the surface, this is a significant step forward.

For the first time, schools will be legally required to follow guidance aimed at limiting phone use during the school day.

But the details matter, and right now, they remain unclear.
The current guidance still includes approaches such as “never used, seen or heard”, where pupils are allowed to carry phones throughout the day. This model remains embedded in both the Department for Education and Ofsted guidance.

There are indications that the intention may be to move away from this.

But until it is explicitly removed, it is likely to remain the default in many schools.

Dr Becky Foljambe, GP and founder of Health Professionals for Safer Screens, said:

“It is excellent that the government has finally recognised the need to put this on a statutory footing, but unless it excludes the current ‘out of sight’ policy, which fails children and teachers, this will make no meaningful improvement.”

This reflects what many schools and clinicians are already seeing.
If phones remain in pupils’ pockets, they remain part of the school day, shaping attention, behaviour and learning.

This is progress.
But it is not yet a clear or complete solution.

The Sunday Times highlights a growing and deeply concerning trend among young men, where the pursuit of an idealised bod...
20/04/2026

The Sunday Times highlights a growing and deeply concerning trend among young men, where the pursuit of an idealised body, shaped increasingly by social media, is leading to serious and, in some cases, life-threatening harm.

Professor Stephen Wigmore, Regius Professor of Clinical Surgery at the University of Edinburgh, describes what he is now seeing in clinical practice as a “silent killer”, with young men presenting with aggressive liver cancer linked to anabolic steroid use. These are not typical cases. They are often otherwise healthy individuals in their twenties, thirties and forties, developing conditions that would once have been considered exceptionally rare.

As he reflects, “the irony of taking drugs to make oneself more beautiful but ultimately shortening one’s life is inescapable.”

The influence of the online environment is central to this shift. The growing impact of the “manosphere” and wider social media culture in shaping increasingly extreme and unrealistic body ideals, where harmful behaviours are normalised, in some cases, actively encouraged.

This concern is echoed more widely across the medical community. Cardiologists writing in the European Heart Journal have described an escalating “gymdemic”, driven by the diffusion of hypertrophic body ideals into mainstream youth culture and associated with rising cardiovascular risks, including a reported five-fold increase in sudden cardiac deaths among bodybuilders globally over a 15-year period. As they note, “social media promotes unrealistic body images, normalises compulsive training, and even facilitates illegal access to anabolic-androgenic steroids.”

For health professionals, this reflects a broader and increasingly familiar pattern. Children and young people are growing up in digital environments that do not simply reflect culture, but actively shape it, influencing identity, behaviour and health in ways that are now becoming visible across clinical settings.

This is not just about content. It is about influence, exposure and, ultimately, harm. We must Raise The Age to 16.

Once again, the UK has chosen to delay.Despite mounting evidence of harm and a clear opportunity to act, the Government ...
17/04/2026

Once again, the UK has chosen to delay.
Despite mounting evidence of harm and a clear opportunity to act, the Government continues to prioritise consultation over immediate protection for children online.

At a recent consultation event in Ladbroke Grove, the UK’s Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall acknowledged that more needs to be done to pressure social media companies to remove harmful content.

Dr Jennifer Lee, a London doctor and member of Health Professionals for Safer Screens, spoke at the event and set out the reality that frontline professionals are already seeing:

Delays in raising the age of harmful social media to 16 are “putting this government at risk of looking complicit with big tech”.

“We are here still debating these nuances. Abstention and delay are not neutral. They are harming children, there is digital trauma happening right now.”

This is what clinicians, parents, teachers and safeguarding leads are increasingly seeing.

Children do not need another consultation.  They need action.

The amendment will return to the House of Lords next week, where there has already been strong support for protecting children.

The question now is whether that urgency will be matched.

Lauren Cowell has been incredibly supportive of the Raise The Age campaign, and she speaks so openly and honestly about ...
14/04/2026

Lauren Cowell has been incredibly supportive of the Raise The Age campaign, and she speaks so openly and honestly about parenting and navigating the tricky path of social media and smartphone use among children under the age of 16. There is something deeply powerful about a parent speaking openly about what they are seeing and feeling.

Lauren and Simon Cowell are parents, and like many, they are navigating a world where technology is ever-present, where childhood now unfolds partly online, and where the content children encounter is not always safe, neutral or age-appropriate.

Technology is here to stay but that does not mean children should be left unprotected within it.

As Lauren reflects, we already recognise the need for age limits when it comes to alcohol and to***co. We understand that boundaries are not about restriction for its own sake, but about safeguarding children during the most vulnerable stages of development.

Like so many parents, she speaks about staying close to her child’s world, guiding, supporting and trying to make sense of something that is evolving far faster than most families can reasonably keep up with.

We are incredibly grateful to Lauren for her continued support of this work and for using her voice to stand alongside the Raise the Age campaign, as well as campaigners like Ellen Roome and other bereaved families who have shared their experiences to push for change.

This is not abstract.
These are real children, real families, and real consequences.

Tomorrow, MPs have the opportunity to act. There is legislation before Parliament now.

We do not need further consultations or more delay.

We need immediate action to protect children before more families are harmed.

They can choose to raise the age to 16.
If you’re in the UK, please take two minutes to write to your MP.
Link in bio.

Great piece from BBC News yesterday highlighting the issue of social media provoking doubt and distrust of hormonal cont...
13/04/2026

Great piece from BBC News yesterday highlighting the issue of social media provoking doubt and distrust of hormonal contraception in young women.

Milly Evans writes about being “filled with unfamiliar doubts” about a hormonal contraceptive that she had previously found had “honestly changed her life” in successfully managing her symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder, a severe form of PMS that carries a significant risk of suicidal ideation, planning and attempts.

Even with this very personal, positive, and beneficial experience, she felt her social media feed was “flooded” with content discouraging her from using it and other forms of hormonal contraception.

This bombardment of posts referring to contraception being “so bad for you” eroded Milly’s positive experience that then felt “invalidated,” leading her to question her decision.

If this sort of content was putting doubt into the mind of a 26 year old s*x educator like Milly, what on earth must it be making women much younger, or from deprived backgrounds feel about their contraceptive choices?

We know women from deprived backgrounds are at an increased risk of an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy and often have poorer access to s*xual health and abortion services.

Women’s health leaders came out last year to voice their concerns about the magnitude of health misinformation in this vital area of women’s health on social media platforms. .the.lowdown and others all strongly share these concerns.

We feel this highly irresponsible content that can so profoundly impact on the health and outcomes of young women, their relationships and life outcomes is reason alone for the government to legislate around child access to social media and to much more harshly penalise the worst offending companies for allowing this effluent of misleading and often entirely false information to bombard women and girls.

If you feel as strongly as we do, write to your MP ahead of the vote in the Commons this Wednesday to raise the age of the worst offending social media platforms to 16.

How much are young people using smartphones during the school day n and what does it mean for learning?A study published...
07/04/2026

How much are young people using smartphones during the school day n and what does it mean for learning?

A study published in JAMA Network Open tracked real-time smartphone use in 79 young people aged 11 to 18, capturing usage during every hour of the school day. It is no surprise that the findings are stark.

Students were using their smartphones during every hour of the school day, spending an average of 2.22 hours around one third of the school day on their devices. They checked their phones 64.46 times during school hours.

The report revealed that most of this time was spent on social media. Students spent an average of 40.14 minutes on social media during the school day, compared with 13.85 minutes on entertainment apps.

But this is not just about time. More frequent phone checking was associated with poorer cognitive control, which in a school environment is essential for the ability to focus, manage attention and resist distraction. These are core skills for learning.

For health professionals, this reflects what is increasingly being seen in practice. Difficulties with attention, regulation and learning are now unfolding in environments where distraction is constant and device use is embedded throughout the day. The temptations are strong and children’s environments have changed.

As the evidence continues to build, the case for stronger protections including raising the age for access to social media platforms to 16 and removing phones from school becomes increasingly clear.

MP’s will vote again on protecting children from social media harms on 15th April. Write to your MP today.

A major new international analysis is strengthening the evidence on how social media is shaping young people’s wellbeing...
31/03/2026

A major new international analysis is strengthening the evidence on how social media is shaping young people’s wellbeing.

The World Happiness Report 2026 brings together global data on adolescents, including findings from the OECD’s PISA study of 15-year-olds across 47 countries.

The pattern is clear.

Young people in North America and Western Europe are much less happy than they were 15 years ago, over the same period that social media use has greatly increased.

The data shows that those using social media for more than seven hours a day have much lower wellbeing than those using it for less than one hour. For girls in Western Europe, the difference is almost a full point on a ten-point life satisfaction scale.

Across multiple chapters, the report finds that heavy social media use is associated with higher stress, more depressive symptoms and lower wellbeing, particularly in English-speaking countries.

It also concludes that there is now overwhelming evidence of severe and widespread direct harms, alongside compelling evidence of indirect harms, including depression and anxiety.

This reflects what clinicians are increasingly seeing in practice.

As Dr Rebecca Foljambe recently told Parliament, “what we see in practice is valid evidence of the harm children are coming to on these platforms.”

Across paediatrics, mental health, s*xual health and general practice, health professionals are reporting rising concerns linked to smartphone use, social media exposure and the content children are encountering.
Children’s environments have changed.

As the evidence continues to build, across research, clinical experience and lived reality, the case for a preventative approach is becoming clearer.

This is why many health professionals are calling for stronger protections, including raising the age for access to social media platforms to 16.

Today, the government will announce new guidance to support parents in managing children’s screen use in the early years...
27/03/2026

Today, the government will announce new guidance to support parents in managing children’s screen use in the early years.

At first reading, it is a positive development to have clear guidance for parents and professionals. It is being shared via Start to Life, in GPs surgeries and at check ups.

We are delighted as HPFSS has called for this and, in its absence, created guidance and support for families. We were stakeholders in the development of this, providing input both to the call for evidence and in interviews.

For families navigating screens day to day, this is an important and long overdue step.

Over the past few years, clinicians across our network have been consistently raising concerns about the impact of screens on children’s development, sleep, behaviour and wellbeing alongside the urgent need for clear, practical guidance for parents.

We are really encouraged to see this now being recognised. 🙌

The new guidance will give parents simple, evidence-based advice from avoiding screen time under 2, to limiting use for 2 to 5 year olds, choosing age-appropriate content and encouraging co-viewing rather than solo screen time.

This is about supporting parents, not judging them.

Because the reality is, many families have been left to navigate fast-moving technology alone. With 24% of parents of 3 to 5 year olds finding it hard to manage screen time, and 98% of two year olds already using screens daily, the need for clear guidance has been growing.

This is a positive step and we hope it marks the beginning of a more consistent, evidence-based approach to supporting children’s health in a digital world.

A new national report confirms what health professionals are already seeing in clinical and safeguarding settings.Childr...
24/03/2026

A new national report confirms what health professionals are already seeing in clinical and safeguarding settings.

Children are now spending 23 hours a week online, a sharp increase in just four years.

But this is not simply about time.
This is about what that time is replacing.

Sleep is being disrupted.
Movement is being reduced.
Face-to-face interaction is being displaced.

Children themselves recognise the impact:
29% say too much time online harms their health.

And yet many feel unable to stop.

Nearly half (46%) continue scrolling, gaming or watching even when they are no longer enjoying it.
59% stay up late on devices.
40% turn down real-world social opportunities.
45% skip sport or exercise.

Perhaps the most striking finding is the contradiction at the heart of children’s digital lives.

Children who spend the most time online are:

→ More likely to say it helps them make friends (73% vs 56%)
→ But also twice as likely to feel lonely (29% vs 14%)

The report also highlights a critical safeguarding concern. Children with existing vulnerabilities are disproportionately affected by digital harm. Nearly 8 in 10 (79%) report experiencing at least one type of harm, compared to 63% of their peers, and this gap is widening. In just one year, it has increased from 68% to 79%. This is not marginal. The digital environment is increasing harm for the most vulnerable children and widening inequality.

This is not balance.

It reflects environments designed to simulate connection while displacing real-world relationships.

From a health perspective, this matters.

We are not looking at isolated harms.
We are seeing impacts across mental health, sleep, attention, physical health and social development.

This is whole-child wellbeing.

We cannot continue to expect children to self-regulate in systems designed to keep them engaged.

This is why we support:

✔ Raising the age to 16 for harmful social media
✔ Smartphone-free schools
✔ Stronger regulation of digital environments

This is not about restriction.
It is about restoring the conditions in which children can develop, learn and thrive.

Without it, the current trajectory will continue.

Earlier this month, HPFSS member Dr Jen Lee spoke at the Centre of Excellence in Child Trauma National Conference, prese...
23/03/2026

Earlier this month, HPFSS member Dr Jen Lee spoke at the Centre of Excellence in Child Trauma National Conference, presenting evidence on how screens and social media are impacting children’s health.

The conference brought together professionals from health, education and child protection to better understand the impact of adversity on children’s development and how safeguarding must evolve in response.

Jen’s presentation focused on the growing role of digital environments in children’s lives and the importance of recognising screen exposure as part of the wider picture of child wellbeing.

As highlighted, screen use is now deeply embedded in childhood. Smartphones are constant companions, with children receiving large volumes of notifications each day and checking their devices frequently, including during the night.

This level of exposure has implications across the whole child. Screen use is associated with the displacement of essential activities such as sleep, social interaction and learning, and is increasingly linked to challenges in attention, emotional regulation and wellbeing.

Vulnerable children are disproportionately affected, spending more time online and facing greater exposure to risk.

For those working with children, this matters. Understanding trauma in today’s context means recognising the environments children are exposed to every day, including digital ones.

Events like this are critical in bringing together frontline professionals to share evidence, build understanding and strengthen safeguarding approaches.

At HPFSS, we see the importance of this work. The conversations happening in rooms like this reflect what many clinicians, teachers and safeguarding leads are increasingly observing in practice.

Children’s environments have changed.

Our understanding of risk must change with them.

The conversation around smartphones in schools has moved decisively into Parliament.Earlier this month, Health Professio...
22/03/2026

The conversation around smartphones in schools has moved decisively into Parliament.

Earlier this month, Health Professionals for Safer Screens took part in a parliamentary roundtable in the House of Lords, alongside headteachers, policymakers and clinicians from across the country.
School leaders spoke clearly about the impact they are already seeing.

Where bans are in place, schools report:

• improved behaviour
• better focus
• stronger social interaction

But many also made the same point, without legislation, schools are left navigating this alone. Time spent negotiating with parents could be better spent supporting children.

At the roundtable, Dr Emily Barrett, educational psychologist and HPFSS member, shared what she is seeing every day in schools.
Smartphones are not just a distraction.

They are shaping how young people think and how they cope.
In lessons, they create a constant cognitive pull, an invisible drain on attention and learning.

Outside the classroom, they allow young people to avoid social discomfort rather than learn to navigate it, reinforcing patterns of avoidance at a critical stage of development.

For some children, particularly those with SEND, the impact is even greater. Educators, clinicians, parents and policymakers are increasingly aligned: the current approach is not working.

At HPFSS, we will continue to bring forward frontline evidence to inform the decisions that now lie ahead.

👉 Read Dr Emily Barrett’s full speech via the link in bio

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