Britain’s children are to receive new guidance on healthy screen use, giving parents practical, evidence based support while the nation’s furniture considers whether scrolling counts as a form of sitting down. Announced on 8 June 2026, the guidance will cover children aged five to 16 and could include advice on when a child should get a first smartphone.
The Government has launched a three week call for evidence before publishing the guidance this autumn. Parents, children and other interested parties can explain what digital life is doing to sleep, learning, social media and the traditional family argument over who has used all the Wi Fi.
The plan is less dramatic than throwing every device into the sea. Ministers say the guidance will avoid blanket rules and help families make informed choices. This is welcome news for parents who have spent years being told that technology is both the future and the reason nobody reads properly any more.
The announcement also turns its attention to technology in schools. The Government wants classroom tools to be safe, effective and evidence based, while later work will consider independent safety certification for some products, including generative AI and filtering and monitoring systems.
It is a magnificent modern solution to a modern panic. Before a child can use a device, adults must establish whether the device is safe, effective, evidence based and capable of surviving a procurement meeting. Up to eight companies are expected to work with schools on tutoring tools, with successful products potentially available from 2027. The classroom may soon receive artificial intelligence, provided it first completes the paperwork proving it has behaved itself.
The central difficulty is familiar to anyone who has tried to remove a phone from a teenager. Everyone agrees that healthy habits matter. Nobody agrees where useful guidance ends and parental hostage negotiation begins. A consultation can clarify the problem, but it cannot stop “just five more minutes” becoming the longest unit of time known to family life.
So the sofa has welcomed the consultation, placed one phone face down and submitted evidence that biscuits improve concentration. It is ready to support healthy screen use, provided the Government agrees that its findings may be presented on a tablet.
Source: GOV.UK.
