Cabinet to publish guidelines on children’s mobile phone use

The caretaker cabinet will on Tuesday publish new guidelines on the use of social media by children, including a recommendation that children should not be given a mobile phone until their final year of primary school.

Broadcaster RTL Nieuws said the plans will be presented on Tuesday and will take the form of guidelines rather than draft legislation.

Parents, academics and a majority of MPs have urged the government to take action on children’s use of social media and mobile phones amid growing concerns about the impact on their education and mental health.

Last month more than 1,400 doctors, scientists and health professionals signed an open letter calling on politicians to introduce legal age limits for smartphone and social media use by children.

The signatories recommend that children should not have their own smartphone before the age of 14 and should be banned from social media until they are at least 16.

Since September 2023, mobile phones have been officially banned in classrooms across the Netherlands, although schools can decide how the rules are applied. Exceptions are allowed for pupils who need their phones for medical reasons.