‘We are in the middle of an epidemic!’ Pinchbeck parents back national campaign to ban smartphones for children
A group of concerned parents have joined a national campaign that wants to stop youngsters having access to smartphones before they turn 14.
The mums and dads, whose pupils attend Pinchbeck East Primary School, fear access to harmful online content could cause a devastating impact on their childrens’ health and development.
“We’ve been led to believe that the world’s changed, but in the phones is where the world has changed,” said Lisa Lucas, a regional leader for the campaign.
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch and singer Paloma Faith are among more than 150,000 adults and 11,500 schools across the country have signed a parent pact created by the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign, which calls on guardians to postpone their youngsters from having smartphones until 14 and social media apps until 16.
Adding further gravitas to the movement, education secretary Bridget Phillipson told school and college leaders they have the Government’s full backing on removing disruptive phones from classrooms at a conference earlier this month.
The campaign is also attracting growing interest here in Lincolnshire, with 305 parents adding their names to the pact, which has received the backing of 119 schools so far.
Viewing harmful content, grooming, cyber bulling, mental illness, phone addiction and academic distraction are among the dangers highlighted by the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign.
“The bad guys are not on the streets, they’re here in the phone,” mum Glauce Santos said.
“We need to educate parents, the tech people want to sell this stuff but I feel like it’s forcing you do do something for your child you don’t want to do.”
Damning figures released by Ofcom reveal that a quarter of five to seven-year-olds use a smartphone and 89% of 12-year-olds own a device.
The Pinchbeck parents - who are planning some local talks on the emotive subject - began discussing the dangers of smartphones when their children were preparing to enter year six, the final year of primary education.
It was at this stage they received information from the school stating youngsters would be able to carry their devices - which would be handed in during the day - as additional safety measures when walking to and from school alone.
While the group agrees phones with basic call and text capabilities would be fine for this step, the parents feel their children’s upcoming move to secondary school - where many pupils are expected to do their homework online - would bring added pressures.
“It seems as if it’s become expected that your child should have a phone for secondary school,” added Lisa, who believes access to smartphones at such an impressionable age suddenly means too much adult information becomes easily accessible for 11-year-olds.
“Children try to push the boundaries, but you don’t want them doing that where they can find literally anything.”
Fellow campaigner Kate Miller added: “They’ve got access to almost anything on this phone. Its absolutely crazy.
“We’ve heard stories of people aged seven or eight typing in ‘sex’ and you know what they’re getting, mindblowing stuff you never want your child to see.
“Their curiosity is being exploited.”
As well as the concerns listed by the Smartphone Free Childhood website, these Lincolnshire parents also argued that youngsters with smartphones could also be influenced by dangerous trends, including videos about suicide and eating disorders, which can find their way into social media viewers ‘ feeds via aggressive app algorithms.
A smartphone culture also puts youngsters at risk of videos and images of them being shared widely without their consent, or contacted by strangers with ulterior motives.
“You almost daren’t make a mistake because it could be filmed, bullying must be horrific,” Lisa said.
“It has always been bad enough at schools, but if you went home it could be forgotten about. Now they go home, get online and can create a group.
“They could be speaking to someone and you don’t realise what’s going on until potentially its too late.”
Kate added: “We didn’t have a camera in our face showing our mistakes. They can’t have the freedom we had.”
Further worries for parents are the hidden languages youngsters use via emojis, plus 24/7 exposure to adult content, from extreme pornography to pop songs with bad language.
“We can say ‘you can’t watch TV after 9pm because there’s adult content on there’, but its not adult compared to what they can access online at any time of the day,” fellow campaigner Sally Parker said.
“There they can see absolutely anything they want online.
“I’m sure the majority of parents aren’t giving their children a smartphone because they want to give them one, it’s because they feel obliged and that that’s the next step, certainly when they go to secondary school.”
The Smartphone Free Childhood’s website explains: “Exposing children to things their brains aren’t yet developed enough to deal with can cause a whole host of problems, from triggering anxiety and eating disorders, to opening the door to cyberbullying or sexual predators, according to the latest research,” it states.
The parents recently met with South Holland and the Deepings MP Sir John Hayes to discuss the topic.
“There’s a real challenge right now,” he said.
“Going round schools as I do, I know smartphones can be a real issue.
“Schools are quite strict about their use, and rightly so, but we are in the middle of an epidemic. We’re being dominated by our devices, peering at our phones when we should be looking at more important things.
“Mobile phones are a part of life but they shouldn’t be a dominant part of life. A teacher shouldn’t be forced to compete with another source of information.”
With the campaign gaining traction, the London borough of Barnet has become the first to announce it will be banning smartphones for youngsters.
From September, its 103 primary schools will outlaw smartphones while the area’s 23 secondary schools will begin plans to remove handheld devices from the school day.
The campaign has also been taken up in Stamford where young person support network The Conversation are currently running a cyberwise campaign with the aim of protecting young people’s emotional wellbeing.
Parents interested in the campaign can visit smartphonefreechildhood.co.uk where they could sign the pact or learn more about joining local WhatsApp groups, where they can join likeminded parents in receiving regular information.
“When you speak to people you learn they are in agreement, they just felt like they had to give their child a phone,” Lisa added.
“We’re not judging others for doing it, we’ve just come to a stage where we’re feeling that pressure as well, but have decided to go against it.
“Our children are about to leave primary school and we feel as if we’re swimming against the tide for them, but hopefully we can change it for younger ones.”
What do you think? Let us know your views in the comments below…