Parents could buy phones without internet access for their children to protect them from online harms, the Children’s Commissioner for England has suggested. In an interview with The Telegraph, Dame Rachel de Souza said she thought parents “should think long and hard about monitored access to social media or actually access to social media at all”.
Dame Rachel, who has been Children’s Commissioner for England since March 2021, said: “I feel strongly that we need to be careful and manage this. So, if you’re worried about your child walking home from school, for example, buy a non-internet-connected phone, so they can always contact you.”
She added: “Now, we know the internet can be an amazing resource. But I think we also know the problems and the darker side – whether it’s access to pornography, violence, gore, dieting material.
“And what the Molly Russell story really shows us and, talking to her mum and dad, is just that they didn’t know what she was looking at.”
Dame Rachel, who was commissioned by the Government last year to review online safety for children, said that schools were “getting better at advising around the phone issue because it’s just such a massive issue”.
She added: “I honestly think that we will look back in 20 years’ time and be absolutely horrified by what we allowed our children to be exposed to.”
Dame Rachel described children’s experience online as “the issue of our age”, adding that she supported the proposed Online Safety Bill. “We absolutely need to take this once-in-a-generation moment to ensure children are kept safe online and in the online world. Nothing should get in the way of supporting child safety online and getting this Bill back,” she said.
In 2012, Dame Rachel cofounded the Inspiration Trust, which runs a number schools in East Anglia, becoming one of the youngest chief executives of a multi-academy trust.
