Safe Screens Campaign

Safe Screens Campaign Parents protecting children from smartphones and social media.
(1)

Calling on the Government to restrict the sale and use of smartphones for children and teenagers for their safety and well-being.

29/07/2026

The invasion of EdTech is underway in our classrooms.
Screens and EdTech platforms crept into schools during Covid.  But powerful evidence is mounting to show that pupil-facing EdTech products are not beneficial. 

Across a number of Scandinavian countries and US states, governments are rolling back on EdTech after seeing a drop in grades, a drop in literacy, and signs of cognitive impairment in children. 
Senior consultant paediatrician Dr Sanjiv Nichani sees the impact of screen‑based learning on children.
Sitting in front of a screen, multitasking, getting distracted, receiving emojis and gamified rewards is not the same as being educated by a teacher in class, using pen and paper and receiving thoughtful, expert feedback.
Other countries are taking action. The UK must join them and address this growing problem in our schools. 

UK Parents: We want to hear your experiences of EdTech – take our parent survey – the link is in our bio. It takes 10 minutes.

And if you agree with Dr Nichani please share this clip and make sure other parents hear this important message.

27/07/2026

📢 All parents of new Reception children.

If your child starts school in September, they will be expected to take a test called the Reception Baseline Assessment in their first weeks of term.

This is a screen‑based statutory assessment, taken by four and five-year-olds in English state schools.

It was changed to a touchscreen test by the Department for Education last year, and we hear deep unease from parents in our network about this digital test in the very first weeks of Reception.

The teachers we’ve heard from don’t like it either.

In this clip, Dr Mandy Pierlejewski of Leeds Beckett University describes what she saw when four‑year‑olds took the digital test: children showing signs of stress and anxiety - stroking their faces, covering their eyes, rocking backwards and forwards.

Dr Pierlejewski, who led a team of researchers from Leeds Beckett University and UCL studying the RBA and has 14 years of experience as an Early Years teacher, explains that many children showed signs of stress right from the beginning.

As Molly and Ben Kingsley say - this is collective action problem for parents that needs a collective solution. While it may be hard for one parent, on their own, to resist a digital RBA, if parents can join together at the start of term and approach their school together this could be much more powerful.

There IS a paper‑based alternative of the test and we think that parents who don’t want their child to take a screen‑based test in the first few weeks of starting school should be able to opt their child out.

If your child is starting Reception this September and you’re concerned about the touchscreen test, you’re not alone.

We’ve written about this on our website blog.
https://safescreens.org/parents-of-new-reception-children-september-2026-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-screen-based-assessment-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/

There's also an here’s opt-out letter on our website that use to send to your school.
https://safescreens.org/resource/opt-out-of-digital-reception-baseline-assessment/

We’ll do our best to support, platform and amplify stories from parents who would like a paper-based alternative for their child.

Parents and teachers should not be asked to do things that they feel are wrong for the children in their care.

Please watch, share, and tag Reception parents who need to know about this test.

If your child is starting Reception in September, you need to read this.The government has added a screen‑based element ...
25/07/2026

If your child is starting Reception in September, you need to read this.

The government has added a screen‑based element to the statutory Reception Baseline Assessment – a test every Reception child in England must take in their first six weeks of school.

At the same time, the Government’s own guidance says children’s screen use should be limited and that adults should sit alongside them, talking, prompting and responding when they use screens.

This is contradictory. You cannot call for less and better screen time for young children while requiring all 4‑ and 5‑year‑olds to complete an isolating test on a touch screen.

New research from Leeds Beckett University and UCL compared the paper‑based RBA with the first year of the touchscreen test.

It found that every child observed in the digital test showed signs of stress and anxiety, and some could not complete the touchscreen actions even when they understood the questions.

That raises a basic question: is this test measuring children’s literacy and numeracy, or is it assessing their digital skills?

The Department for Education argues that adding digital elements will reduce admin and “allow the teacher to focus more on their interaction with the pupil”. In reality, teachers must follow a script and cannot guide, reassure or respond in the usual way when children struggle.

If your child is starting Reception in September, please read Dr Mandy Pierlejewski’s blog. https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/blogs/carnegie-education/2026/07/the-reception-baseline-assessment-contravenes-screen-use-guidance/

Share it with your school and other parents,

If you are worried, use our opt‑out letter to write to your school with your concerns.

Join with other parents and write together.

https://safescreens.org/resource/opt-out-of-digital-reception-baseline-assessment/

We’re really worried about screen use in schools.Our recent polling showed that nearly a million schoolchildren spend al...
22/07/2026

We’re really worried about screen use in schools.
Our recent polling showed that nearly a million schoolchildren spend almost every lesson on a screen.

Every day we hear more concerning stories:
· Children bypassing filtering services and accessing non-educational content via school issued devices
· Gamified apps being used that engage but children don’t seem to be learning
· Parents being refused opt outs from on screen classwork and homework
· Children watching YouTube during lessons
· Children messaging other pupils and sending emails during lesson time to external email accounts
· Schools unable to tell parents how much screen time children are having during the school day
· Less and less schoolwork is handwritten
· Mounting screen time impacting children’s attention and eyesight

The DfE recently commissioned a report showing that many EdTech solutions lack evidence about long-term impact. Research findings are often scattered, outdated, or produced by vendors. The report found that the evidence on EdTech’s impact is inconsistent across learner groups and especially scarce for disadvantaged students.

This is not acceptable.

We are calling on the Government to pause and review pupil facing 1:1 devices and EdTech platforms and we need your help.

We have a new survey that we are asking you to complete to share your experiences so that we can use them to inform policymakers and raise awareness.
Your concerns will be treated anonymously – it takes 10 minutes. Please join us in making our voices heard.

The survey link is here https://forms.gle/tvm97SJezyHpFWko9

A Government report quietly published in June finds that Big Tech is not prioritising UK safeguarding in primary classro...
20/07/2026

A Government report quietly published in June finds that Big Tech is not prioritising UK safeguarding in primary classrooms. It names Microsoft Copilot and OpenAI, and admits general purpose AI tools were not built with UK children’s learning or safeguarding as the priority.

The same report warns schools are being locked into multi‑year contracts with global tech giants, with “significant” switching costs once tools are embedded. 

Usage data shows children in some schools are spending up to an hour at a time being taught by apps, not by teachers.

The report concedes that many EdTech products lack evidence of long‑term impact. What evidence does exist is “scattered, outdated, or produced by vendors”, and is especially scarce for disadvantaged pupils.

As Sophie Winkleman says, “For years parents have been told this tech is the future – rigorous, evidence‑based, essential. Now the Government’s own research confirms tools like Microsoft Copilot and OpenAI’s ChatGPT were never built with UK children’s learning and safeguarding as a priority. They were built for a global market with no thought for how they or if they might be effective in our classrooms This is big business, not education.”

While Norway, Sweden and US districts like Los Angeles are rowing back on classroom devices and returning to books and handwriting after falling reading scores, England is doubling down on classroom tech with little evidence it is safe or effective. This is an unacceptable status quo.

We are calling on the Government to pause and review the use of pupil-facing EdTech in our schools. 

Join the conversation on our WhatsApp group and follow us for updates.

14/07/2026

The data from the last 15 years show that as soon as devices entered the classroom test scores started plummeting around the world. 

We need a national conversation about this. Involving schools, parents and policymakers instead of blindly assuming that EdTech improves learning. 

As Sophie Winkleman says, 
“EdTech, social media and smartphones are all fins and teeth of the same shark” 

The same slot‑machine design used in social media to keep us scrolling is now embedded in EdTech platforms used by children in school. The streaks, the rewards, the nudges. 

And the distracting features are not the only downside. 

As neuroscientist Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath says, after learning something, the brain needs a period of downtime. Calm, book-based learning provides this. 

But there is no downtime with screen based learning because screens are constantly stimulating. 

We know children frequently multi-task when using screens. 
We know the impact this has on their attention, memory and learning. 

Yet there is still no independent evidence to show that the majority of EdTech products improve educational attainment. 

This is why we are calling on the Government to pause and review the use of EdTech platforms and 1:1 devices in our schools.  

Parents check out our template letters you can use to write to your schools. 
And join our Whatsapp group to be part of this vital conversation. 

The links are in our bio.

09/07/2026

One million children are now spending nearly every lesson on a screen. 

And schools are handing out internet‑enabled devices on the pretext of delivering a “future‑proofed education”.

But as Sophie Winkleman says, human brains don’t work well when learning from screens.

And who is considering the impact on children’s cognitive skills, their attention and their executive function?

Research shows that screen use in schools is contributing to a global decline in learning. 

What children actually need is more hands on learning, more paper and pencil and less screens. 

So what about children with additional needs? 

It’s clear that certain assistive technologies are very helpful for some children with specific needs. 

But technology that helps a minority of children should not determine how all children learn.

As Sophie says, there is also a huge question mark over whether tech actually does help children with milder learning needs. 

Speech and language experts tell us that screens often disempower children with special educational needs; the screens become a barrier to learning and to practising skills they find challenging.

And parents tell us that the overuse of screens in our schools is storing up all sorts of problems for the future. 

Parents must rally, policymakers must act - to protect our children’s future.

07/07/2026

Education expert Tom Richmond says we need restrictions on generative AI in the classroom now – we cannot wait 15 years to address the harm to children’s brains.

Research already shows that when using tools like ChatGPT, not a single student using a large language model could recall and quote their own essay afterwards.

Using AI literally bypasses the learning.
Everyone working in education should know and understand the impact of generative AI on children’s brains and their learning.

As Tom says, performance is not the same as learning – you can do extremely well in a test and have learnt nothing.

This is a huge deal.

Policymakers must regulate to protect children’s developing minds. We are not out on a limb – Norway have already taken this step.

The conversation around EdTech and AI in schools is happening on our WhatsApp group.

Join us.

03/07/2026

Ed Tech was meant to bridge the attainment gap, but it is doing exactly the opposite.

Sophie Winkleman delivers a brilliant speech at ARC 2026 on how screens, EdTech and AI are eroding real education.

Top schools are moving away from 1:1 devices and gamified apps, while our most disadvantaged children are being given more screens and AI chatbot “tutors”.

How is this OK?

As Sophie says, “The beating heart of the teacher–pupil relationship is one of the most important factors in academic success.”  

Decades of evidence show that human teaching,  encouragement and attention are among the most important drivers of that success, not bouncing avatars and gamified prompts.

A machine cannot be a mentor.
Children facing problems at home deserve more human contact, not less.

We are campaigning to get pupil‑facing EdTech and AI out of classrooms and homework: no default 1:1 devices, no gamified content that hijacks children’s attention and undermines learning, no chatbots being quietly slipped in as “support” for the poorest pupils.

If you’re a parent or teacher and you can see this happening in your school, you are not alone.

As our community of parents rallies together, join our WhatsApp group to be part of the conversation.

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