Can the dream of smartphone-free childhood ever come true in the UK?

Just 2 months ago, Daisy Greenwell reached a constituent astatine which she had to decide: would she springiness her eight-year-old girl a smartphone, oregon marque her “the weird one” without a mobile? “I thought this Wild West net occupation would beryllium sorted by the clip she got to this age,” Greenwell says. “And abruptly I realised her classmates had smartphones. We don’t privation to get her 1 and I didn’t cognize what to bash astir it.”

Greenwell is not alone. A London headteacher announced plans earlier this twelvemonth to present a 12-hour schoolhouse day successful a bid to tackle pupils’ smartphone addiction. A canvass this summertime suggested the overwhelming bulk of parents backmost a prohibition connected smartphones for under-16s. And 83 per cent of radical surveyed by Parentkind felt that smartphone usage was harmful to children and young people. It’s an contented that Australia has conscionable go a person in, arsenic the country’s authorities is acceptable to present authorities to ban under 16s from social media, arsenic announced contiguous by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Meanwhile successful the UK, galore parents person begun warring the contented with grassroots projects aft being near feeling helpless. “I kept talking to people, asking however they consciousness astir it and everyone said the aforesaid thing: there’s fundamentally nary choice, I had to get her a phone,” says Greenwell, 40, a writer astatine Positive News. The adjacent unit erstwhile 1 classmate has a telephone is truthful beardown that you’re astir opting to marque your kid weird if you don’t let them to articulation in. “So, we’re each doing this,” says Greenwell, “but cipher wants to bash it? It’s crazy.”

So she and a friend, scientist Clare Fernyhough, decided to commencement a WhatsApp radical for acrophobic parents, “thinking it astir apt would conscionable beryllium the 2 of us”. But erstwhile Greenwell posted a nexus to the radical connected societal media, she recovered hundreds of others were likewise distraught. With the likes of BBC broadcaster Emma Barnett reposting the campaign, upwards of 1,000 radical joined the WhatsApp radical astir overnight. Having deed their bounds connected the group, they asked radical to commencement their ain determination communities, and the Phone-Free Childhood web began. “On time two, Scotland popped up and Cornwall” Greenwell says.

As of 1998, it’s been enshrined successful instrumentality that the property of net adulthood — erstwhile you tin download apps and person your information collected and utilized without parental consent — is 13 years old. There is nary youngest property astatine which you tin bargain a kid a phone. While Instagram introduced a relation this autumn that means kids nether 18 volition person their accounts automatically made private, they are inactive disposable to those arsenic young arsenic 13, assuming they adhd a genitor oregon guardian to their relationship who volition stay successful power of privateness until they crook 16.

While anecdotal grounds suggests societal media vulnerability successful adolescence is causing an uptick successful anxiousness and intelligence wellness struggles for Gen Z, determination are present warnings that it is besides impacting eyesight and aboriginal beingness chances.

With the youngest children being being raised by smartphones and tablets arsenic time-poor parents strive to enactment and unrecorded disconnected their ain devices, the clip to enactment is now, thinks Greenwell, who says momentum for alteration is growing. Although for antithetic reasons (potential espionage), the US authorities has this week moved person to forcing Chinese app TikTok to alteration ownership, oregon beryllium banned from operating. And WhatsApp precocious lowered its property of usage from 16 to 13. “It seems similar we’ve reached a tipping point,” says Greenwell. Last month, she and Fernyhough did a speech online with societal scientist Jonathan Haidt, whose publication The Anxious Generation was published past month. “During the penning of it, helium was realising [children’s absorption successful smartphones and societal media] had go a immense problem. But he’s assured we could hole it.”

Greenwell was partially inspired by speechmaking a portion successful Spanish paper El Pais astir an enactment radical taking connected the caller presumption quo. “I deliberation radical are angry, and they’re realising however companies are taking the information from our children and selling it for billions.” Greenwell feels that portion we whitethorn not beryllium capable to get the genie backmost successful the bottle, there’s ever thing we tin bash and tons of examples of regulations being brought successful to support people, we conscionable request the corporate resoluteness to bash it. Through the Phone-Free Childhood network, Greenwell is proceeding of much and much disturbing stories. “One of our radical is simply a GP: she had a kid successful her country yesterday who has PTSD due to the fact that of this convulsive porn that was sent to him connected WhatsApp. He’s eight.”

So what is the solution? “We person truthful overmuch safeguarding acceptable up successful schools, but paedophiles aren’t successful the playground — they’re connected the internet, preying connected kids via societal media wherever there’s nary safeguarding whatsoever.” She adds: “We are getting aggravated and talking to everyone and talking to our MP… If we tin get immoderate due legislative alteration — things similar getting the tech companies to adjacent enforce their ain property limits to halt 40 per cent of under-13s who are connected societal media — that would beryllium a monolithic success.”

For now, Greenwell’s girl isn’t putting unit connected her parents to get a smartphone, but she is intrigued astatine however “everything successful the location has abruptly gone mad, and it’s similar a tip”, laughs Greenwell, who besides has children aged 2 and four. “She said to maine successful the car this morning, ‘It’s a spot ironic you’re doing this mum, you’re connected the telephone the full time’.”