Debate contribution: Online Harms: Impact on Young People

Debate contribution by Mr Paul Givan on 13 May 2025.

MLA

Mr Paul Givan

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

13 May 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Online Harms: Impact on Young People

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4948219

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I will start by thanking Cara Hunter for proposing the motion, not just because of its content and wording but because of the substantive evidence base that she articulated in her speech. Clearly, a lot of work went into that and she cares passionately about the matter. I commend her remarks to the House: I thought that they were excellent, and I concur with them. Thank you to Cara for proposing the motion and allowing us all to have an opportunity to speak on this important issue. The continued development of technology and how we use the internet to access information and to connect to others could be described as a double-edged sword. That is true for all of us, but it is a particular challenge in education and for parents and carers at home, as we try to strike a balance in keeping our children and young people safe. As we work to progress educational excellence and harness how emergent technologies can support that, we cannot ignore the darker side that can touch the lives of children, young people and educational staff. Young people's access to the online world of chat rooms, social media, websites and other online platforms means that it is more difficult to be aware of the content that they are exposed to or to ensure that the relationships that they form are healthy and safe. Through the Northern Ireland Executive's online safety strategy and accompanying action plan, the Executive collectively have a clear vision on the issue: all children and young people enjoy the educational, social and economic benefits of the online world and that they are empowered to do so safely, knowledgeably and without fear. The work underpinning the first three-year action plan recently concluded. My officials are working with their colleagues from across Departments to set out a new two-year action plan for work in this area. The Growing Up Online survey, published by the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland in October 2023, highlighted five key areas that require focus. It said that children, young people and their families should work together to find a screen-time balance that works for them; the amount of time spent online will look different for everyone; parents need better support to understand their children's online lives; more needs to be done to protect girls in particular from online harm; children should be involved in creating resources about online safety; and social media companies need to work harder to protect children on their sites.

That highlights the fact that we need to work closely together to support our education staff, alongside parents and carers, by providing them with access to high-quality supporting resources to navigate the online world, given that children and young people are normally ahead of the game in the virtual space.

There is a key role, as Members have highlighted, for regulation in online safety. I am pleased to have received correspondence from Ofcom about its recently published protection of children codes and guidance, which underpin the Online Safety Act 2023 and its intention to secure a higher level of protection for children online. The measures outlined by Ofcom, once implemented across industry, will mean that children will not normally be able to encounter adult content websites. They should be protected from seeing and being recommended other content that is harmful to them. It will be made easier to complain about harmful content, and the user will have more autonomy over the chats and forums that they join. Those are vital safeguards across the online space, and my officials will continue to liaise with Ofcom and other key stakeholders as that work progresses. It is not about only regulation; there perhaps needs to be an enhancement of the regulation. Members commented on the social media companies and the lack of responsibility in the field. This morning — I will come to this shortly — I was visiting the Ineqe Group, one of the companies that have brought forward the Safer Schools app. It highlighted the fact that, if we are really going to get change out of social media companies, we need to be able to target how they derive their income. A total of 98% of Facebook's income, for example, comes from advertising. We have to find a way to create a financial consequence for failure to protect those on social media platforms. The criminal deterrent is clearly not working, so we need to hit the social media providers in their pockets and not just expect them to do the right thing, because that has clearly not been the case. There is ongoing work that some are pushing for on the need for an accreditation system for websites, and, if they do not get that accreditation, the technology exists to inhibit their ability to generate income through advertising. There is a lot to be commended in that approach. It is being raised elsewhere, but it is an area that I would certainly support. In addressing some of the nuances that are proposed in the amendments, let me stress that evidence about limiting the personal use of mobile phones throughout the school day confirms to me that I am doing what is best in the interests of children and young people in progressing the policy. Ms Hunter outlined what she means by banning smartphones. That is not a ban on people bringing a phone to school then using the phone after school; it is a ban on using the phone in school. That is the right thing to do, and I think that that is what Ms Hunter believes is the right thing to do. I find it interesting that Mr Baker argued that we needed mobile phones to deliver lessons in school. At a time when our families are struggling with the cost of living, how much is a mobile phone? They cost hundreds and hundreds of pounds, and pressure is then put on families, who feel that they need the most modern technology in order to take out their mobile phone to deliver a lesson. We should not be delivering lessons on the basis of the ability of individuals to afford those mobile phone devices. I will give way to Mr Baker.

That is not the point that I was addressing, and I want to come to that. Mr Baker made the point about using mobile phone technology for lessons to be delivered in class. That was the point that Mr Baker made and the one that I want to correct.

I will give way in due course. Mr Baker raised a concern about my Education budget: he is right to be concerned. I hope that he will speak to his ministerial colleague who controls the Department of Finance to help to address that. My challenge this year is in our resource budget. Our capital budget is something that I want more of. The mobile phone pilot scheme for pouches has been funded through capital moneys, not resource, which is where the £300 million figure comes from. Michelle Guy criticised me. I commend a lot of what she said, but she also criticised the pilot scheme. Does she criticise the over 50 schools that put their hands up to say, "We believe in this, and we want to be included", including some schools in Lagan Valley? Is the Alliance Party criticising Victoria College, which pioneered the pouches and went ahead with the pilot scheme because it believed that the evidence was right to do so? When Members want to score a point against me, I say that I have listened to schools and school leaders who have advocated for the scheme and want to be included. Look beyond the individual in office to see if it is something that the sector wants, rather than having a go because it is me. St Ronan's College in Lurgan, which is the biggest school in Northern Ireland, will be part of the pilot scheme and is enthusiastic about it. Members should ask themselves whether, if the school supports it, they are wrong in being critical of it.

I will make some more progress. When taking forward these things, it is important to look at the evidence. Many countries are taking steps to stop phone use at school. It was for that reason that I developed the pilot scheme: it will allow us to test the phone-free day in school. In other jurisdictions where that has been brought in, while school pupils were initially sceptical and against the proposals, many now report that it has been the best thing for them and they feel more able to concentrate on their learning and socialisation during the school day. The findings from the pilot and the evidence from other jurisdictions will be useful in informing my future policy decisions. Members should reflect on that. If they have better solutions that will effectively limit the use of mobile phones and are cost-free, I am all ears. However, the evidence has shown that we need to do more than just publish, as I have done, a circular to say that you are not to use mobile phones during the school day. School leaders say that they need more support to do that, hence the pilot scheme. I commend 'The Anxious Generation' by Professor Jonathan Haidt, which was handed to me by Rosalind, whom Mr Martin referenced. She is heavily involved in a smartphone-free school campaign, and those who read Professor Haidt's substantial book will come away convinced of the necessity to tackle the issue and the harm that the devices cause. We need to take action in our school settings, rather than having a ban on paper, which is not effective unless we help schools to implement it. Readiness to learn is vital, and the emotional well-being of our children and young people is key. Both amendments highlight the requirement for investment to support pupil well-being, and that requires work across Executive Departments. I am pleased that the Minister of Health and I have continued to support initiatives delivered as part of the joint emotional health and well-being framework in schools for the 2025-26 academic year, in the face of challenging budgetary positions for both Departments. Around £10 million will be invested to support pupil well-being. Any additional funding will require the Executive to agree that it is a priority and provide the additional resources accordingly. I said that I was delighted to visit the headquarters of the Safer Schools NI app at Ineqe in Belfast this morning, where I advised of my decision to support further investment in online safety through the continuation of the contract for the incoming academic year. Through the investment in the Safer Schools app, we now have coverage across 85% of our schools, delivering quality-assured safeguarding information, advice and guidance that can be tailored to suit the individual needs of the school community. That unique partnership enables us to respond to any emergent issue and to be confident in the guidance that we share with schools. It is important to build on the success of the app and work to ensure that all schools have coverage by June 2026. The motion also calls on the Minister of Justice to ensure that funding for the PSNI's child protection team is adequately prioritised as part of any increase in police workforce planning. I know that the Minister for Justice, like me, will want to support the police in this.

Mr Butler and Mr Mathison are keen to come in, but I want to conclude in the next two minutes. Recently, as Members know, I launched an ambitious programme of education reform that is outlined in the TransformED Northern Ireland strategy and delivery plan. My plans for curriculum reform and a Department-led vision for teacher training and professional learning will enable a refreshed approach to the preventative element of the curriculum and will help to develop an empowered educational workforce that is able to confidently deliver key messages and impart knowledge to our children and young people around keeping safe online and understanding healthy relationships. It is important to stress however that, while schools have an important role to play, we must be careful not to suggest that they can be the sole agents of change. A whole-community approach to keeping children safe online must be accompanied by a broader, cross-departmental and wider societal approach, one that recognises the role that we all play as social guardians for our children and young people. Again I draw Members' attention to the underpinning thread throughout the original motion and the amendments: it is one of doing all that we can across government to protect and keep our children and young people safe from the dangers of the online world while preparing them for a future in which the internet and emergent technologies will be fully intertwined. The protection of our children and young people, as they engage with the internet technology and extend their connections into the virtual world, is paramount. As Minister, I will continue to do all that I can to keep our children and young people safe and enable them to thrive emotionally, socially and academically.

2,203 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:36 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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