865 Kent residents back PCC's letter to the PM

03rd February 2026 

865 Kent residents back PCC's letter to the PM supporting a ban on social media for under‑16s and removing smartphones from schools

865 Kent residents have signed a joint letter to the Prime Minister with Kent’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Scott.

Ahead of today’s final debates in the House of Lords on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act, the letter calls on Sir Keir Starmer to keep an amendment in the legislation that would require the Secretary of State to take action to promote children’s wellbeing in relation to their use of social media by commissioning advice from the Chief Medical Officers and introduce regulations to prevent under 16s from accessing social media.

The letter points to new data from the PCC that shows over 1800 offences were committed in a twelve-month period where the victim and perpetrator were both under 16 and the offence had an online marker. These offences included domestic abuse, extortion, harassment and sharing of indecent images.

Mr Scott said:

“I am delighted that so many local residents are supporting this vital campaign. We have seen strong evidence on the impact on young people’s mental health and wellbeing, behaviour and school performance. It is important that we act now that we know more about the effect of social media and online crimes against young people.

“The coalition of supporters, including parents, PCCs, MPs, Peers, charities and professionals is so broad that I hope the Government will take notice and do the right thing, follow the lead of other countries and better restrict social media use for the under 16s.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

The letter to the PM is attached here.

Data obtained from Kent Police covering the period 1 December 2024 to 30 November 2025. 1810 offences with an online marker, and where both the victim and a known suspect were under 16 have been included.