At last Westminster looks set to free our children from their social media cages

It has been a strange experience watching Westminster catch up with conversations parents have been having for years.

- BY DAISY GREENWELL

In the space of a few days, children's use of smartphones and social media has moved from the sphere of kitchen tables and school gates to the centre of political debate. In quick succession, Sir Keir Starmer has shifted from opposing a higher social media age to announcing a government consultation. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has done a similar about-turn by writing to all headteachers tightening guidance on smartphones in schools and confirming Ofsted will inspect enforcement (a belated attempt to remove a distraction that should never have entered classrooms). The House of Lords has voted strongly to raise the minimum age for social media to 16. And Smartphone Free Childhood, the grassroots organisation I co-founded less than two years ago to support parents navigating this new frontier, has revealed in hard numbers just how much public feeling has been boiling beneath the surface.

The trigger moment came a couple of weeks ago, as political signals around social media regulation began to align. The noise had been growing for years - anxious parents, uneasy teachers, concerned clinicians - but it still felt oddly weightless. Plenty of concern, not much traction. Then news broke that Starmer was considering an Australia-style ban. This, finally, was a moment to act.

Within a few hours, we'd launched a campaign calling for the minimum age for social media to be raised to 16, inviting parents in Smartphone Free Childhood groups to email their MPs in support. What followed surprised even us.

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