Smartphone Free Childhood - how can we make a smart choice for our kids?
📱One evening last week, I put on a different hat and ran a workshop with Suzanne Lilley, parents and the head teacher at my daughter’s primary school on the subject of Smartphones. Looking to the Smartphone Free Childhood (SFC) movement and their brilliant shared resources to educate ourselves on a ‘new frontier in parenting’.
📣The workshop gave me the chance to educate myself and share the latest evidence presented on the impacts of smartphone ownership at a really important time in their physical, emotional and brain development.
☹️ From poor sleep, addictive behaviour, fear of missing out (FOMO) creating anxiety and stress, to bullying, distractions, family arguments, road safety and more recently a surge in ‘snatch theft’ – up 150% in the last year, there’s so many factors to take on board in the decision in our parental decision to say ‘yes’ or ‘not yet’.
📵 For parents looking for solutions and support the SFC childhood movement promotes a parent pact or collective agreement around getting a simple phone instead of a smartphone and looking at retaining the internet on a shared device to keep them developing their digital skills.
🔋So far, 150,000 parents are involved and the number is growing. In the London Borough of Barnet the SFC movement has gone so far as to ban smartphones in both primary and secondary schools. This means that this year’s intake of year 7 children will have 7 hours of smartphone free time each day without notifications, the temptation to seek validation from social media and the dopamine effect for the entirety of their secondary school education – the first policy of its kind in the UK.
💪In Manchester and Cheshire the pact has been signed by c 3500 parents to delay giving a phone until at least the end of year 9.
🎬Looking ahead for our primary school and based on insights from a recent parent survey on the topic, we'll now be drawing up an action plan.
🧑🧒 Some of the actions will happen through parent power, requiring us to reflect and modify our own behaviours, act as role models and inspire a new generation of digital champions who will be better educated at the time they're given ownership of their own pocket supercomputer. Others will come through working together partnership with our school and supported by our friends and families.
🌻 Delaying doesn't mean forever, it just gives the chance for kids to be kids for a little bit longer.
📢 I’m really keen to hear about how those in my network are feeling? Do smartphones for your kids worry you? Have you got any solutions or alternatives to share? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear more about what you think below.
Suzanne Lilley
#SmartphoneFreeChildhood #ParentPact #HealthyChildhood
#ScreenFreeKids #FamilyFirst #ChildhoodMatters