Kildare parents come together to ban smart phones from schools

A move is underway to ban smart phones from primary schools in Naas and surrounding places.

The parents associations of eleven primary schools in an area also taking in Clane, Eadestown and Two Mile House, have announced what they term a “go phone free” initiative.

It’s being done in conjunction with school managements and teachers.

This  is a voluntary initiative which invites parents and guardians collectively to agree to follow a code which means that pupils have no smartphones while in school and that they do not engage with any social media platforms while in  school.

The initiative also seeks to have the age rating on video games respected. 

According to parents the motivation behind the initiative is the “ever-increasing body of research which evidences the detrimental effects of smartphone and social media use in particular on the developing brain,.”

They say the research shows that this is especially so for children under the age of 14 and this includes increased risk of cyber-bullying, depression and  anxiety, self-harm, access to pornography, vulnerability to online predators and poor academic performance, amongst others. 

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“We believe that this initiative offers parents and guardians, who are concerned about their children  having access to a smartphone and social media, a tool to help address the above issues. By collectively  embracing a voluntary code, schools, parents and guardians are working together to create a safer and  healthier environment for primary school children.”

The campaign started with an “informative evening" for parents and guardians of participating  schools at the Osprey Hotel in Naas. 

The attendance included Brian Barron, principal  of Portlaw National School, who spoke about his experience of successfully implementing a similar voluntary code in over 70 schools in County Waterford.

Also attending was  Catherine Hallissey, a highly-regarded  child psychologist from Cork, who provided hands-on tips on how to manage our children's  screen time and share ways in which parents can better support their children safely to navigate the online world.