Ofsted has been instructed to examine schools’ mobile phone policies and how effectively they are implemented during inspections
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Peers are being urged to vote in favour of an Australian-style social media ban for under-16s.
Former schools minister Lord Nash has tabled an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which would raise the age limit for social media users.
Following growing calls for a ban, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall this week announced a “swift” consultation which will take place over three months and report back in the summer.
It will look at the advantages and disadvantages of a ban for under-16s, in addition to overnight curfews and actions to prevent “doom-scrolling”.
However, Conservative peer Lord Nash has argued the consultation represents more delay.
Ahead of the debate on Wednesday, he said: “The evidence is overwhelming.
“The support for change is undeniable – from medical professionals to our police and national intelligence community, from our teachers to hundreds of thousands of parents.
“The time for delay and procrastination is over.
“Without swift action to raise the age limit for social media to 16, we are at risk of a societal catastrophe
“That is why I am urging all fellow peers to vote for my amendment, which has the backing of peers from every major party, to end the disastrous harm being done to our young people by social media and to give them their childhood back.”
Kemi Badenoch said the Tories would introduce a ban for under-16s if the party were in power.
“The harm social media is doing to children is undeniable, and the Conservatives would get children off these adult platforms altogether,” she said.
Ofsted has been instructed to examine schools’ mobile phone policies and how effectively they are implemented during inspections.
Evidence-based screen time guidance for parents of children aged five to 16 will be produced, Ms Kendall told the Commons on Tuesday.
Guidance for parents of children under five is also expected to be published in April.
Lord Nash’s amendment has been co-sponsored by Labour peer Baroness Berger, Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Benjamin and independent crossbench peer Baroness Cass.
Campaigners for the ban have argued social media is fuelling catastrophic harm to children’s health and driving radicalisation and crime, in addition to an epidemic of mental illness.
The Liberal Democrats have called for film-style age ratings to protect children.
The party’s education, children and families spokesperson Munira Wilson said: “Now more than ever we need a smart approach that puts an end to harmful social media for under-16s, finally holding tech giants’ feet to the fire without cutting kids off from the benefits of the digital world.
“Our proposal for a film-style classification system would adopt a trusted framework for the digital age, forcing social media to catch up with what traditional media has done for decades.
“The Liberal Democrat approach, targeting platforms based on the harms they pose, is the only one to receive broad support from both the NSPCC and 42 different experts and children’s charities.
“We need to keep our kids safe online, and we want to work cross-party to achieve that.”