Candace Kinser, National candidate for Auckland Central
Some of the best parts of childhood are wonderfully ordinary. A book read under the covers, a fort built from cushions, a ball kicked around the garden until dinner, or a drawing that begins as a house and becomes a dragon. Then there are the negotiations, disagreements and friendships formed when children play together without an adult, or an algorithm, directing every moment. Many of us remember childhood in bike rides, scraped knees, muddy shoes and being called home as the light began to fade.
Technology has changed our world, often for the better. I have spent much of my career working in technology and innovation, so I am not interested in pretending we can, or should, turn back the clock. But every technology has a place and a time. For young children especially, screens should support childhood, not become the centre around which it revolves.
National’s new ‘Set Up for Success’ policy recognises that technology should support children’s learning, not replace books, play, conversation and time with teachers. Screen and personal-device use will end in early childhood education and be tightly limited in Years 1 to 3, with age-appropriate limits for older primary students. There will be exemptions for children with disabilities or specific learning needs. Technology will remain available where it genuinely improves learning, but it will no longer be the automatic choice for every activity.
The policy also restores greater emphasis to the art of handwriting. The writing component of twice-yearly primary assessments will be completed on paper because writing is more than recording words. Holding a pencil, forming letters and constructing a sentence require children to slow down, order their thoughts and engage both mind and body.
Set Up for Success will also introduce clearer milestones based on Te Whāriki, New Zealand’s early childhood curriculum. Parents will receive better information about how their child is developing, and a ‘School Start Check’ will bring that information together before primary school. The School Start Check is not an exam and there is no pass or fail. It will give parents, early childhood teachers and schools a clearer picture of each child’s strengths and any areas where they may need more support, so help can be put in place before small difficulties become larger ones.
This builds on National’s ‘Phones Away for the Day’ policy. Since April 2024, state and state-integrated schools have been required to keep student phones put away throughout the school day, with sensible exemptions for health, disability, learning support and approved educational purposes. The Education Review Office has reported positive effects on teaching, student focus, learning, behaviour and attitudes towards school. Remove the persistent interruption, and children rediscover the lesson in front of them and the person sitting beside them.
National is also confronting the wider risks children face online. On 24 August, the Government introduced the Online Safety Bill following a parliamentary inquiry into online harm. The inquiry recommended age restrictions, stronger responsibility for technology companies and an independent online-safety regulator. The Government also cited research showing that one in three New Zealanders aged 13 to 17 spends at least five hours a day on social media. The bill is not yet law. If passed, it would require high-risk platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook to take reasonable steps to prevent children under 16 from holding accounts. The responsibility would sit with technology companies, not families, and there would be no penalties for children, parents or caregivers.
Platforms used by children would have to assess the risks created by their services and explain how they are reducing them. Companies that repeatedly ignored their obligations could face penalties of up to 10 per cent of their global revenue. An independent regulator within the Department of Internal Affairs would monitor and enforce the rules. The bill would also cover emerging risks such as social AI companion services, helping the law keep pace as technology changes.
Before children can use these tools wisely, they need strong human foundations. They need curiosity, scepticism, imagination, concentration and the confidence to ask, “Is that actually true?” They need to form an argument, read another person’s expression, resolve a disagreement and sit with a difficult problem without immediately reaching for a device. Those abilities grow through books, conversation, handwriting, music, sport, experiments, boredom and play. They develop when children use their voices, hands, senses and bodies.
The answer is not to fear technology, it is to remain in charge of it. Children will need digital skills for the world ahead, but they will also need judgment, creativity and emotional intelligence. They must learn to use technology without allowing technology to use them.
As National’s candidate for Auckland Central, I am campaigning for communities where families can raise children with confidence and where our schools, libraries, parks and neighbourhoods give them room to learn, move, think and belong. Auckland Central should be at the forefront of technology and innovation while carefully and thoughtfully protecting what no device or algorithm can replace, a well-rounded childhood. There will be plenty of time for notifications and artificial intelligence. The early years should still hold space for imagination, stories, movement, friendship, laughter and the glorious feeling of freedom.
National’s policies recognise that children must be prepared for a digital future, but not at the expense of their childhood. By setting sensible boundaries around screens and social media, we can help them first develop the confidence, judgment, creativity and human connections they will need throughout life. We want children who can use technology well, while remaining grounded in the real-world experiences, relationships and freedoms that no screen can replace.
