Hansard

I thank my friend and colleague Pam Gosal for securing the debate and for the work that she has carried out on domestic abuse during the five years that she has served in this session of Parliament, which she should be proud of. I certainly would not like to be a voter in East Dunbartonshire if her team knocked on my door and I told them that I was not voting for Pam. I look forward to her being returned to Parliament.

I also pay tribute to Audrey Nicoll for an excellent speech and for her distinguished time as convener of the Criminal Justice Committee. I know how much members from across the Parliament have enjoyed being part of that committee, and her stewardship of it has been central to that.

As Audrey Nicoll touched on, we all need to understand the toxic environment that our young people are growing up in, because of the devices that they have in their hands.

Yesterday, I attended the launch of Change Mental Health’s manifesto, “Put Kids First”, which is on standing up for Scotland’s next generation. Interestingly, the two key asks of that manifesto are for a ban on mobile phones during the school day and a ban on social media for under-16s.

We are all, on a cross-party basis, acutely aware of the negative impact that phones have on our young people. I attended a round table last month to hear the views of parents and carers about the impact that phones are having on their young people. We know of cases in which young people have taken their own lives because of bullying and harassment on their mobile phones, but we also know about the negative impact that phones are having on a wider part of our young people’s development.

Statistics now show that young people spend as much time on their devices as they do sleeping. An average 10-year-old will spend more time on their device than on any aspect of their personal development. We need to understand our young people and the time that they are growing up in. I support a ban on mobile phones in schools and believe that we need to implement it urgently.

I welcome the work that Scottish Conservative councillors in the City of Edinburgh Council have done to drive the two pilots that have taken place in Portobello and in South Queensferry, which the cabinet secretary has visited. They are delivering great results for the whole school community and, most importantly, young people say that they welcome the fact that they have finally woken up to the wasted time and the negativity that social media brings to their lives. We are also seeing that pilot rolled out across primary schools.

However, a ban is not an easy solution. I know that the cabinet secretary will talk about the Education Act 1980 in her closing speech, and we need to understand that if we, as a Parliament, want to send that message about mobile phones, we will have to take the next step. It is therefore important that during the next session of Parliament, we create a bill that clearly defines the understanding that we want a national ban on mobile phones in our classrooms. There should be no more excuses on that.

We also need to send out a wider message to parents and carers. Based on a number of meetings that I have had, I know that it is not easy to ask young people to put down their phones or to implement a ban, but it is quite clear that Scotland can be world leading on that, as Australia has become.

If we understand the negative impact that phone use is having on our young people, we as a Parliament, and councils, need to take action. I hope that there will be cross-party action early in the next session of Parliament. I think that our manifestos will demand that. If we do not do that, the negative impact—as Alex Cole-Hamilton touched on—of this growing public health emergency is absolutely clear.

I hope that this debate has started the action that is needed to deliver a ban and that members in the next session of Parliament will do just that.

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