Campaign to reduce children's smartphone use

Saturday, 21 September 2024 12:19

Parents in Stamford are being urged to back a campaign to reduce smartphone use in children.

The Conversation Stamford is asking people to back their pledge of no smartphones for primary age children, no social media until at least age 13 and parental controls until age 16. They're hoping this will become the norm as Gemma Holberg and Sarah Jane Sauntson explain:

"We know there's a place for smartphones: I particularly love my smartphone. I love interacting with it and I do a lot on social media. But we also know that the very nature of children's and young people's brains are not set up to manage that digital interaction. So we want to reverse the trend that's happening and keep parents informed and allow them to make informed choices for their children.

All the primary schools are on board, which is really great. We met with the head teachers. They were really enthusiastic about the campaign. And we've also already begun some work at Stanford Welland Academy and Casterton, working with their year seven and eight. Encouraging them to be a bit more self aware about how they use their phones, how they engage on social media, and just getting them to think for themselves, actually, is this a positive influence on me or not, and what kind of habits can I tweak to make it more positive?"

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