ITV's Lake District & South Cumbria Reporter, Fiona Paterson, visited the Infant & Child Development Lab (formerly known as the BabyLab) at Lancaster University for an interview with Professor Padraic Monaghan. The interview focused on a new bill that has just passed its first reading in Parliament, aimed at restricting children’s access to addictive content on social media and introducing age limits on children’s online activities.

The discussion explored the potential harms and benefits of social media and technology on children's development, which is a key research area for the ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development (LuCiD). LuCiD is a research collaboration between Lancaster University and the Universities of Manchester and Liverpool investigating how language is acquired by children, and is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Professor Monaghan has been an active member of LuCiD for many years, first as its Co-Director from 2014-2018, and continuing in the capacity of Principle Investigator and Co-Investigator for the projects 'Cues for different language learning tasks: Simultaneous or successive learning?' and 'From oral language to literacy: Beyond 0-5' respectively.

Professor Monaghan shared insights from LuCiD research on how apps could support early language development, highlighting the importance of balancing digital content with real-world interactions. He emphasised that while some technology can enhance children’s educational and social development, the best approach is for caregivers to sit alongside children when using apps, guiding them through the content and fostering interactive learning.

On the research project, Professor Monaghan commented: “Children's use of smartphones is increasing year on year, and though there are huge potential benefits to this technology, we also need to understand the risks. There is a need to provide caregivers with the tools they need to support and protect children, and to ensure children aren't exposed to addictive content.”

The full interview can be accessed on the ITV news website, with Professor Monaghan’s segment beginning at 12:38. The ITV news piece covering the interview – “'It's similar to gambling' - professor believes social media can harm children”- is also available online on ITV’s website.