Devon parents refuse to give children smartphones

Pupils at a North Devon school are turning off their smartphones in the classroom after a campaign by parents to ban them during learning hours.

As part of the Smartphone Free Childhood, Woolacombe School signed a ‘Parent Pact’ saying then will not give smartphones to children until at least the end of year nine.

The Woolacombe parents are part of a growing movement of parents across the UK who believe that childhood is 'too short to be spent on a smartphone'.

According to Ofcom research nearly a quarter of UK five-to-seven-year-olds now have their own smartphone, and by age ten it is now considered normal for a child to have their own smartphone. Recent research has shown that giving children smartphones can expose them to harmful content, cyberbullying, grooming and make them more likely to suffer with mental illness.

Woolacombe School headteacher Gail Holmes said: "I am fully supportive of the Smartphone Free Childhood movement and so glad it has taken off in our school. I know that this issue is something that many of our parents feel strongly about.

“The Parent Pact should give parents/carers the confidence to choose not to provide their child with a smartphone, whilst knowing that their child won't be the only one in their peer group without one."

Parent Penny Clark added: "Parents have so many pressures to deal with in life already, the smart phone one is definitely the worst! If there were to be a ban on smartphones until an older age it would remove so much pressure from the parent and protect so many children."

Another parent Leila Dinari said: "These aren’t just phones we’re putting into our children’s pockets, they are traceable computers with access to everything online.

"My hope is that there will be an alternative that will satiate the kids need for tech and give them all the things they need in terms of being able to be reachable to family and friends, but without any of the risk of cyber bullying, grooming and generally just becoming addicted to a screen.

"There must be a better way and I’m thrilled there is this wave of change coming for our children."

And Sarah Matthews added: "I have a teenager in my family with serious mental health issues brought on by social media use. I'm not planning to get my son a smartphone for as long as I can hold off. I just hope he's not the only one."

While parent Jane Turner said: "Terrified of this conversation with my kids. Really hoping the smartphone trend will have abated by the time it comes but realistically I think the opposite will be true. Desperately hoping we can start the movement for the brick or flip only phone for as long as possible and that will appease the children."

· For more info about Smartphone Free Childhood:
smartphonefreechildhood.co.uk

· Sign up link to the Parent Pact:
parentpact.smartphonefreechildhood.co.uk