In a small Irish town, parental initiatives from all eight primary schools have agreed to a voluntary refusal of smartphones for children studying there. This is to counter the peer pressure that makes children under the age of 11-12 already want a smartphone, writes the Irish Times.
The “No smartphone voluntary code” is intended to ensure that the majority of children only receive such devices in secondary schools. Those responsible do not explicitly mind rejecting mobile phones themselves and have nothing against controlled use, but want to spare children’s apps such as Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok and Discord, the newspaper mentions.
“Parents Love It”
The move isn’t the first concerted effort to address the proliferation of smartphones and social media apps in schools, but it’s likely the first for citywide collaboration. According to the Irish Times The deal stems from an initiative called ‘It Takes a Village’ in which organizations work together to improve the well-being of children in Greystones. The principals of all of Greystones primary schools take part.
Erasing the smartphone is now the last part of the job. It was therefore launched when it was recognized that the children of the city of about 20,000 inhabitants were increasingly suffering from anxiety disorders and that this could not be explained by the pandemic alone.
Faced with fears that smartphones are stoking fear among children and that they are encountering adult content there, parent groups have decided to join forces to defend explained the Guardian. If everyone sticks to the deal, it will make it easier for parents to say no to their children when it comes to their first smartphone, the British newspaper said, quoting a mother. The agreement stipulates that elementary school children will not receive smartphones there, at home or elsewhere. This should reduce peer pressure and while not everyone participates, it could help in discussions with the children, so hopefully. Parents would love it because now they could blame the school for denying the desire for smartphones.
According to the report, the initiative was spearheaded by school principal Rachel Harper. Childhood is getting shorter and shorter, she says, pointing out that nine-year-olds now want their own smartphones. Although the devices were already banned from elementary schools, the effects of social networks on children have been noticed.
The smartphone cancellation has attracted attention in Ireland and Health Secretary Stephen Donnelly has already backed this upimplement something similar nationwide. In the US, just days earlier, the Surgeon General had warned of the health risks for children from social media and called on politicians, industry and society to do more to protect them.
(mho)
