Current status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 21 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce strengthened legal duties for parents and carers to take reasonable steps to prevent and address harmful behaviour from their children, particularly online.
The Scottish Government does not propose introducing additional legal duties specifically requiring parents and carers to take reasonable steps to prevent and address harmful behaviour by their children online. Instead, our approach focuses on supporting families through education, guidance, and early intervention.
The Scottish Government recognises the importance of preventing children and young people from being involved in harmful behaviour, including online. We are committed to promoting the wellbeing and safety of all children through a rights-based approach, as set out in our national child protection policies and the Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) framework.
Prevention is key to tackling harmful behaviour, including online and we are taking a range of actions to raise awareness about online safety with parents and carers, including providing advice and support through the Scottish Government’s Parent Club website: Online Behaviour & Safety | Parent Club and Online Behaviour & Safety | Parent Club and through Education Scotland’s Digital learning, digital life and digital work | My child | Parentzone Scotland | Education Scotland.
The We’re here for you | Parent Club website provides advice and information for parents and carers on online safety, including signposting to support when things go wrong. This includes advice on what to do if there are concerns about children being involved in harmful behaviour. There is also advice on what to do if there are concerns about a child being involved in bullying others.
Parentzone Scotland | Education Scotland provides information and advice primarily for parents and carers about education in Scotland from early years to beyond school. The site includes practical ideas to support learning at home in a variety of curriculum areas such as literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing and science, as well as information on additional support needs; and also tips on how parents can get involved in their child’s school and education. It includes information, guidance and signposting for parents including on harmful online behaviour. The website also has information on how parents and carers can help protect their child and understand online dangers.
We continue to work with partners across education, health, social work, and law enforcement to strengthen child protection responses, including addressing inappropriate or harmful online behaviour. This includes:
We will continue to monitor developments in this area and engage with stakeholders to ensure our policies remain responsive to emerging challenges.