Entire town could have kids go smartphone-free until age 14

A group of parents are trying to get the agreement of an entire town to have their kids go without smartphones until they are 14 years old.

The hope is that if enough parents sign up to the initiative, it will remove the danger of isolating children from friends who do have phones …

There’s long been significant concern about the impact of social media apps in particular on teenage mental health, as well as on the potential harm done by kids using smartphones at school.

We’re seeing more states and school districts either ban or limit smartphone use during school hours, but BBC News reports that one group of parents is hoping to go further.

Parents have signed a pledge to delay giving their child a smartphone until the end of Year 9 when most will have turned 14.

William Ransom Primary School, in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, has asked all 25 primaries [elementary schools] in the town to join them in requesting that parents do not give their pupils smartphones.

Earlier this year, a group of parents at the school agreed they did not want to give their children smartphones and raised it with head teacher Tony Plunkett, who supported their campaign […] He hopes to have all the town’s primary schools signed up to be smartphone-free this school year.

One of the biggest challenges for parents who want to make this decision is that it runs the risk of leaving their kids isolated, if all their friends are chatting on apps, and arranging get-togethers on social media. The idea here is to remove that problem.

Plunkett said: “You don’t want to alienate your child, so you inevitably give them access. Hopefully, what we’re doing is trying to build that community where more children do not have phones than do.”

The most famous school in Britain recently told parents that students will only be allowed Nokia dumbphones during term time.

Photo by Artem Kniaz on Unsplash