Ofcom data (2025) shows that digital device use is now embedded in children’s daily lives. In 2024, almost a quarter of children aged 5 to 7 years old owned a smartphone, and threequarters used a tablet at home or school (Ofcom, 2024). Across all age groups (3–17), most children use screens for entertainment, communication and learning, with parents reporting increasing difficulty managing screen-time and online behaviours (Ofcom, 2024). Schools vary widely in their approaches to phone access, with some implementing full bans and others integrating devices into learning.
Research into screen-time and phone use examines a range of outcomes, such as attention, sleep, speech and language, learning, emotional wellbeing, and social development. Evidence remains mixed, with methodological challenges around selfreporting, causality and the diversity of children’s digital experiences.
Governments and schools are increasingly considering policies to manage device use. In the UK, some schools have introduced restrictions or bans, and international jurisdictions have trialled similar approaches. Policymakers are seeking clarity on the effectiveness and/or unintended consequences of such interventions.
This briefing will synthesis the latest evidence on children’s screen and phone use, updating the 2020 POSTnote Screen use and health in young people. It will evaluate the strength of scientific findings across developmental, social and wellbeing research including neuroscience and biomedical research. It will assess anecdotal evidence and stakeholder perspectives on the impact of school-level policies and examine inequalities in access to digital technologies. It may also identify methodological limitations and evidence gaps.
Please note POST also has an open call for contributions for a complementary POSTnote on Impacts of social media on children and young people.
The House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology have launched an inquiry and call for evidence on ‘Neuroscience and digital childhoods’. This call for evidence is different to this POSTnote contributions, we encourage stakeholders to read the guidance for both calls and engage in both activities if possible and where relevant.