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Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, has emphasized the importance of parents setting a positive example this Christmas by turning off their phones during family moments. Speaking to the Press Association, she highlighted that children are eager for meaningful engagement with their relatives over the holidays and encouraged families to establish “phone-free time” together. Despite this, a recent survey revealed that almost half of parents with children under 18 intend to allow phones at the Christmas dinner table this year.
According to research conducted by More in Common for Yondr, nearly 40% of adults have experienced disruptions to their Christmas celebrations due to smartphone use. Dame Rachel acknowledged that she herself has previously used her phone during mealtimes but stressed that adults need to set clear boundaries for everyone, not just the children. “We have to lead as adults,” she insisted. “We can’t talk about banning for the kids if we’re not doing it ourselves.” Alongside these remarks, she introduced a new guide designed to help parents safeguard their children online and manage screen time effectively.
Pete Etchells, a psychology professor at Bath Spa University, told BBC News that the holiday season offers an ideal opportunity to engage children in conversations about healthy technology habits. He advised that the goal is not to induce guilt or shame over tech use but to become more aware of it. “And striking up conversations about what we’re happy with, and what we would like to be doing differently,” he added. This approach reinforces the commissioner’s guide, which addresses parents’ confusion around online safety and offers practical advice based on input from children’s focus groups.
The guide also tackles topics such as handling adverse online experiences and the implications of artificial intelligence. Teenagers aged 13 to 18 shared with Dame Rachel that encountering negative content online is an accepted part of their digital lives, having experienced contact from strangers and exposure to pornography, as well as knowledge of intimate images being circulated among peers. Encouraging early and frequent dialogue about online presence is, according to Dame Rachel, crucial for parents. Health Professionals for Safer Screens representative Arabella Skinner supported this, suggesting simple solutions like creating family agreements on device use or designated storage boxes for phones during mealtimes. “Children feel most secure and content when they have our full attention, eye contact, and presence,” she remarked. Recent findings from Ofcom reinforce these concerns, revealing that children aged 8 to 14 spend nearly three hours online daily, with up to a quarter of that time occurring late at night, adding to worries over the impact of excessive screen time on young minds
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