News & Media

Here we will share the latest media activity and other news about the Health Professionals for Safer Screens

In the Press

February 6, 2026The Times

Doctors declare effects of child phone use a public health emergency

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, representing 23 medical royal colleges, has written to ministers after hearing first-hand testimony from clinicians across the NHS. At a recent Academy of Medical Royal Colleges roundtable, doctors from A&E, paediatrics, psychiatry, general practice, sexual health and optometry shared first-hand accounts of the cases arriving in clinics and emergency…

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February 2, 2026Hello Magazine

Arabella Skinner shares her thoughts on screen use in Hello magazine

Raising awareness about the urgent need for clear guidance on screens from pregnancy onwards, when families are most open to support and prevention has the greatest impact.

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February 2, 2026The Times

Warn parents about screen time during pregnancy, midwives told

Health professionals continue to raise the alarm: early years screen exposure has become a public health emergency. Across clinics, nurseries and schools, we are seeing a sharp rise in children struggling with speech, language, attention, physical development and emotional regulation patterns that consistently link back to excessive or unstructured screen use in the earliest years…

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February 2, 2026University of York

University of York Team Awarded Major Grant to Investigate Smartphone Effects on Youth

A team of scientists at the University of York, led by Professor Lisa Henderson, has been awarded a major grant of £873,283 to investigate the effects of digital technology on brain development, social behaviours, and mental health in young people. The project includes 5 Co-Investigators, including Professor Umar Toseeb, Professor Harriet Over, Dr Emma Sullivan,…

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February 2, 2026The Guardian

How screen time affects toddlers: ‘We’re losing a big part of being human’

The Kindred Squared School Readiness Report was released last week, and its findings are now being reflected across national media. The report found that more than half of reception teachers believe excessive screen use, by children and parents, is the single biggest factor affecting children’s readiness for school. That aligns closely with what Sandy Chappell,…

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January 22, 2026Daily Express

We must ban social media for children like Australia for one crucial reason

World-first online restrictions for under-16s should be followed in the UK, writes GP Dr Rebecca Foljambe.

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August 22, 2025Daily Mail

Daily Mail Article 22 August 2025 – Professor Matthew Sadlier

Beauty influencers are just as toxic for girls as Andrew Tate is for boys

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July 15, 2025

Jersey Evening Post – 11th July 2025

HPFSS event made local headlines 11/7/2025

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July 8, 2025

Government to ban children from using phones in all Jersey schools following ITV News investigation

Jersey's government will ban the use of mobile phones in schools for students up to the end of Year 11. A draft letter to parents and guardians, leaked to ITV Channel, reveals that from the start of the next academic year, all Government of Jersey schools and colleges will not allow pupils to use their…

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July 8, 2025

Guernsey urged to follow Jersey smartphone ban

Oliver Westgarth, who is part of Smartphone Free Childhood Guernsey, wants to delay the use of smartphones until children are at least 14

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Watch Now

February 8, 2026BBC One Scotland

Professor Matthew Sadlier spoke on BBC Scotland

HPFSS member Professor Matthew Sadlier spoke on BBC Scotland about the growing harms of social media and screens on children’s health and development. His message was simple and urgent: the evidence is clear and we need stronger protections for children now.

February 6, 2026GB News

Arabella Skinner on GB News

In this clip from GB News, Arabella Skinner, Policy Director at Health Professionals for Safer Screens, explains the alarming rise in child sexual abuse material online, including content that is AI-generated, non-consensual, and increasingly self-generated by children who have been groomed via social media.

February 6, 2026Times Radio

Dr Becky Foljambe on Times Radio

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, representing 23 medical colleges, has declared the impact of harmful online content and excessive screen use on children a public health emergency. And when Times Radio asked Dr Becky Foljambe from Health Professionals for Safer Screens whether this was really a social issue rather than a health one, her…

February 6, 2026BBC Radio York

Dr Becky Foljambe on BBC Radio York

Dr Becky Foljambe, GP and HPFSS founder, explains on BBC Radio York: “Especially vulnerable children, those who are socially isolated, living in rural areas, or facing mental health challenges, are much more at risk on these platforms. They might feel safe, but the evidence tells us they are not.” Raising the age of access to…

February 2, 2026GB NEWS

Professor Matthew Sadlier on GB News

On GB News, Professor Matthew Sadlier, psychiatrist and member of Health Professionals for Safer Screens, explained why Australia’s world-first under-16s social media ban matters and why it should be closely watched here in the UK.

February 2, 2026SKY NEWS

Dr Emily Sehmer on Sky News

A single video. Less than 30 seconds. A lifetime of consequences. The deeply disturbing story of Frazer, who was just 12 years old when a friend showed him a graphic suicide video on a smartphone at school. That single exposure left him with post-traumatic stress disorder, a diagnosis confirmed years later. This is not rare. And…

February 2, 2026

Fresh from major wins at the Golden Globe Awards, Adolescence struck a nerve far beyond the screen.

Written by Jack Thorne, one of the UK’s most respected writers on childhood, vulnerability and social systems, the series has been widely praised for its unflinching portrayal of young lives shaped by neglect, isolation and digital saturation. For health professionals, this response comes as no surprise. The character, Jamie Miller is very representative of the…

February 2, 2026LBC

Dr Becky Foljambe, on LBC with Matthew Wright

“This is becoming cruel and what frightens me most is that people are no longer shocked.” Dr Becky Foljambe, speaking on LBCwith Matthew Wright last weekend, described what health professionals are seeing across the NHS: children exposed to extreme sexual and violent content online at ages they are simply not equipped to process, and the…

February 2, 2026BBC BREAKFAST

Dr Sanjiv Nichani on BBC Breakfast

“We are terrified by what we are seeing in our clinics.” This is not rhetoric. It is the lived reality of health professionals across the UK. On BBC Breakfast, Dr Sanjiv Nichani, senior consultant paediatrician and member of Health Professionals for Safer Screens, said what many clinicians have been warning for years: “There is no…

February 2, 2026ITV

Early years screen exposure has become a public health emergency.

Arabella Skinner, Policy Director at Health Professionals for Safer Screens, has been speaking across national media about the urgent need for clear guidance on screens from pregnancy onwards, when families are most open to support and prevention has the greatest impact.

Supporting the Safer Phones Bill

Health Professionals for Safer Screens are delighted to have played their part in supporting this and will continue to as it makes its way through parliament.

“Addictive phone use, especially from a young age, is a major health concern for children, not just their access to harmful content. In clinical practice, we are seeing the negative impacts of these devices on all aspects of child health and yet we have done virtually nothing to communicate this to parents to help them make informed decisions about when they allow their children access to a smartphone. I greatly welcome Josh’s Bill, which I hope will spearhead a robust public health campaign on this issue.”