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‘It went nuts’: Thousands join UK parents calling for smartphone-free childhood (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 2 years ago by Emperor@feddit.uk to c/unitedkingdom@feddit.uk

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More than 4,000 parents have joined a group committed to barring young children from having smartphones, as concerns grow about online safety and the impact of social media on mental health.

The WhatsApp group Smartphone Free Childhood was created by the former school friends Clare Fernyhough and Daisy Greenwell in response to their fears around children’s smartphone use and the “norm” of giving children smart devices when they go to secondary school.

“I’ve got a seven- and nine-year-old. Daisy’s got kids of a similar age and we were both feeling really horrified and worried and just didn’t want them to have smartphones at 11, which seems to be the norm now.”

Fernyhough and Greenwell hoped the movement would embolden parents to delay giving their children smartphones until at least 14, with no social media access until 16.

But what they expected to be a small group of friends who help “empower each other” has turned into a nationwide campaign after the group reached the 1,000-person capacity within 24 hours of Greenwell uploading an Instagram post to promote it.

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[–] Fox@pawb.social 27 points 2 years ago (15 children)

Are these parents unable to keep their kids away from smartphones?

[–] Plopp@lemmy.world 21 points 2 years ago (11 children)

I'd guess not letting your kids have a smartphone could render them ostracized and bullied in school as long as it's a very uncommon thing.

[–] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 years ago (8 children)

Most kids nowadays probably won't spend much effort associating with someone that doesn't have an online presence or social media I imagine.

So many group chats, hardly anyone phones or text messages, so even if you supply your kid with a dumb phone they will miss out on a lot of the social stuff going on at school.

[–] ladfrombrad@lemdro.id 5 points 2 years ago

Yep, and then you have the blue Vs green bubble debacle.

As a fully grown adult the amount of shit I get from friends and co-workers for not using WhatsApp is crazy.

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