The problem 

 

The harmful impact of children using smartphones is wide-ranging - from a rapid rise in peer-on-peer sexual abuse, the escalation of bullying and constant harassment, to a dramatic decline in wellbeing, attention, concentration and learning.​

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When we first started giving smartphones to children, we didn’t know this would be the result. Now we do. 

 

Data shows the younger a child gets a smartphone, the worse their mental health will be.  And yet the average age at which a child receives their first device is now 9.  

 

What about school? 

 

Smartphones and social media are addictive by design, so it’s not surprising that they severely impact a child’s ability to learn. 

 

Asking a child to focus while they have access to a supercomputer in their bag, isn’t realistic, or fair. 

 

At the moment, 84% of secondary schools in the UK have a “no see, no hear” policy, meaning children have constant access to their devices. This leads to distraction, truancy, and serious safeguarding risks. 

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It’s simple. Smartphones and schools don’t mix. 

 

That’s why we’re on a mission to make all schools genuinely smartphone free by 2027, meaning children have no unsupervised access to internet-enabled personal devices during the school day. 

 

Shifting the societal norm 

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Smartphone free schools allow children to focus, learn and play safely without distraction.

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But they do much more than that. 

 

By supporting parents to delay giving a smartphone in the first place, they help shift the norm around smartphones, and help children be children for longer.

 

We strongly believe government should make smartphone free schools mandatory and we are campaigning for stronger regulation.

 

But this could take time and every school year is precious. So parents and schools must work together, urgently, to protect this generation of children, before their childhood is gone.

A child’s school years are too precious to be squandered on a smartphone.