More than 4,000 parents have joined a group committed to barring young children from having smartphones, as concerns grow about online safety and the impact of social media on mental health.
The WhatsApp group Smartphone Free Childhood was created by the former school friends Clare Fernyhough and Daisy Greenwell in response to their fears around children’s smartphone use and the “norm” of giving children smart devices when they go to secondary school.
“I’ve got a seven- and nine-year-old. Daisy’s got kids of a similar age and we were both feeling really horrified and worried and just didn’t want them to have smartphones at 11, which seems to be the norm now.”
Fernyhough and Greenwell hoped the movement would embolden parents to delay giving their children smartphones until at least 14, with no social media access until 16.
But what they expected to be a small group of friends who help “empower each other” has turned into a nationwide campaign after the group reached the 1,000-person capacity within 24 hours of Greenwell uploading an Instagram post to promote it.
Lots of people are quick to snap back with ‘Why don’t the parents… parent’ but as a parent, this is the larger worry. Like, yes, I can stop my kid from having a phone but if everyone in her friend group has one and uses one, am I doing damage in not letting her experience and grow alongside her friends?
The reality is that it’s not 2002 anymore, and my children aren’t going to grow up in a house with one semi-reliable internet-access point (family PC).
It’s significantly more complicated than merely suggesting that parents be better, because…what is better here?
Not talking about you, just some of the other comments seem… incredible snappy.
Which is the point of the group - if you can get enough parents to not give their kids smartphones then it reduces the social pressure to get one.
However, the kid with one would be king of the class.
I saw my brother today and he reckoned my nephew didn’t really go out and see his friends - he communicates with them (a lot) on his phone or in games. Now that might not be desirable but him not having a phone won’t force him outside as everyone else will be inside on their phones. It just feels an unwinnable situation unless you got an almost complete consensus.